Edge of the Sea
by Mabel4gs
Summary: Vash brings back Knives, but discovers his mistake as he fights for the future of the planet and the woman who's becoming more important to him than he realizes. REVISED, UPDATED, ILLUSTRATED! MVK some pics are RAngst, humor, romance, and action!
1. Waiting and Awakening

Konichiwa!  
  
Here it is! Totally revised, updated, edited, ILLUSTRATED, and generally better than it was. Thank you everyone for all your reviews and encouragment. You writters know how much that helps when it's 1am, you're zinging on caffine and you've got a case of writters block the size of Australia. But I digress.  
  
This is a continuation of the Trigun series by Yasuhiro Nightow. He owns all the characters and preplot, and this is as it should be. I own nothing. Nothing I say!  
  
ILLUSTRATIONS!!!! Ok, tried posting the web address on the pages, but that didn't seem to please the almighty donut gods. So...Just do a word search for Ricki's Trigun Anime Page and look under Mabel's Fan-tastic Fan-art. All the pictures for the story are there and I'll just plug in the title of the picture in the story so you know which one to look at and when to look at it. Besides...I worked real hard on them so I might have to come to your house and use all your toothpaste if you don't. (evil laugh) uh...yeah...  
  
Horrah to Ricki-chan who has posted all my artwork on her Trigun web site. Go check it out!  
  
..... means characters are thinking...or at least trying to.  
  
And now please enjoy, The Edge of the Sea. (Bows low and hands you a complementary donut)  
  
Mabel4gs ;D  
  
**CHAPTER 1: WAITING and AWAKENING**  
  
Hot wind blew over the parched ground causing tiny dust tornados to swirl up to the white blue sky over the city. The cracked earth on the empty streets of the town blazed under the rays from the two suns. Most everyone was inside during this hottest part of the day, trying desperately to keep cool or find a welcoming breath of a breeze.  
A small black cat with bright green eyes made its way half-heartedly across the street to the town's local Saloon, the Rusty Trigger, only to collapse in exhaustion under the shade of a rocking chair on the porch directly outside the establishment. In the chair sat a woman who was fanning herself and occasionally dabbing a wet cloth across her neck and forehead. To the random passerby, the woman would seem to be simply concentrating on cooling off, but on closer examination, one could see that her eyes were intently focused on the distant shimmering horizon on the outskirts of the city. Everyday at this time she sat on the porch and stared to this point at the edge of town.  
She thought that no one noticed.  
"Meryl?"  
Meryl jumped out of her meditation and looked up at Milly, her best friend, who was leaning against the doorframe.  
"Meryl, he'll be back soon, don't worry." Milly smiled brightly at her friend and walked back into the shade of the saloon. "He promised you," she said over her shoulder.  
Meryl sighed and leaned back against the rocking chair, closing her eyes.  
Promised... She turned the word over in her mind and wondered if he had meant it when he said he would come back, or if it was just another way to shake the insurance girls off his tail. He'd given them the slip way too many times for her to keep track of, but somehow she'd always found him again.  
But this time was different, this time she was waiting for him to find her.  
She knew it was a long shot. He'd never once shown her anything but basic friendship, so there didn't seem like she had much to expect from him. Meryl kept telling herself that she shouldn't get her hopes up, that it was better for him to be out of her life, and even if he did come back, he'd just leave her again anyway. That was just the way it had always been...the way it would always be.  
Then why am I still waiting for him? She sighed.  
She knew why.  
Vash.  
She could still see him in her mind, walking away, towards...  
She shook herself again. Meryl did not want to think about what Vash the Stampede was walking into that day he left town. He went off to find his brother, Knives, a sadistic murderer and self-proclaimed destroyer of the human race. Vash marched off to meet this man, and he had not looked back. Meryl put her head in her hands and her elbows on her knees. She wanted him to look back so much, to give her one last wave or smile or.... something... And now he was really gone. There weren't any rumors of him in over three weeks, and she was slowly losing her mind! Not to mention pissing off Milly with her moods, which, on all accounts, was a hard thing to do. Milly was generally so easy going.  
Meryl really crossed the line when she casually mentioned going back to the Bernardelli Insurance Company a week after Vash left.  
"No way, Meryl!" Milly scolded her, "I won't let you leave, not when Mr. Vash is expecting you to be here when you get back!" Milly was red in the face she was so angry. "When someone asks you to wait for them and tells you they will be back, you have to wait for them as...as long as it takes." Milly slammed the door to her room and didn't come out for an hour afterwards, but when she did, she was her old cheery self again.  
It hadn't been a serious suggestion, but after Milly's reaction Meryl knew she could do nothing but wait now.  
So, now she was waiting. For three weeks. Meryl knew three weeks was not all that long, but when you wanted to see someone so badly, the minutes crawled by, slowed by the oppressive heat.  
She wondered to herself. When had Vash become that important to her? When she first met him, she hadn't believed that he was really The Vash the Stampede, and not some wandering idiot. And then, after she was convinced he was Vash, she still thought he was an idiot. Until.....well, she really couldn't say when her perception of him changed. It happened slowly, mostly when he got serious about something. Then she saw the age in his eyes. She wondered what else happened to him during the last hundred years that he hadn't told her about. All she knew was, when he was hurt, really hurt, be it physically or emotionally, her heart ached as well. And she didn't know what that meant for the longest time.  
"Geez, Meryl," she muttered to herself, "for someone as smart as you are suppose to be, you can really be stupid at times."  
What's more important to you? Your job or your life? He asked her that once when she tried to follow him.  
She never answered him out loud.  
But she'd been dreaming lately, and always she'd wake up more frustrated than before. Ever since he'd hugged her that day, Meryl wanted to touch him again. His skin, his body fascinated her into detailed fantasies about being close to the humanoid typhoon. Before it was just been a need to protect him, to keep him safe, but now...  
Meryl slowly stood up and smoothed her clothes down, making herself presentable. With sad eyes, she looked toward the same spot on the horizon where Vash disappeared to the day he left, and the same spot she watched every day after.  
"I promise," she whispered, "I'll wait for you...."  
Walking through the swinging doors of the saloon she paused before she went in, catching one more glance out to the desert.  
"...as long as it takes."  
Now the town looked truly deserted. The heat blew through the empty streets. No one was there to see the distant specks of movement on the horizon. No one watched as the specks came closer and closer to the edge of town. Three men. One tall and blonde, one dark and lanky, and a third slung over the shoulder of the first man. The only one who greeted them was the black cat under the chair, which mewed, stretched, and went back to sleep.  
  
Illustration: Waiting for You (Go to Ricki's Trigun Anime Page)  


Angus McCray had a sudden desire to go to church, which was quite odd since he hadn't attended church in nearly a decade. But still, there it was, and he felt he had to go.  
His teams of workers were on a foraging mission to a nearby town called Tonam, which mysteriously became deserted. However, they had to take temporary cover when they heard the sound of gunshots late in the morning. It didn't last very long.  
Probably just some wandering bandits or stragglers, he thought, nothing his team couldn't handle. So, during his lunch break that afternoon, Angus walked through the doors to the modest little town church.  
  
The sun shone through the stained glass windows, illuminating the dust particles in the air so that the beams of light looked like odd angled pillars, fitted to prop up the walls of the building. The rest of the large room was in musty darkness. Not too many people must have used this old place, and it seemed that fewer people took the time to clean it.  
Angus remembered coming here as a child, and staring at the colorful window panels, awed that anything so beautiful could survive there. Compared to the rest of the town, the windows were beautiful.  
Something clattered in the distance.  
He froze in mid-step. Through the dusty light pillars he could just make out a dark crouched shape at the end of the aisle. It looked like a machine of some sort. Little glints of light came from it.  
Angus held his breath for as long as he could and stepped foreword. His father did not raise him to be a coward. He passed the last pillar of light and realized that it was a man, hunched over, in front of the alter.  
His first thought was that it looked like Jesus with his cross leaned up against him. But, Angus quickly dismissed that. He could see the cross was loosely wrapped in dingy cloth, but underneath glinted metal. A weapon of some sort. The man was dressed in a black suit.  
Hot for the desert, Angus thought. He knelt down besides the man and reached for his wrist, which lie out, palm up on the carpet. He paused again, seeing the blood for the first time. It pooled around the "Jesus man," making a trail from the doors of the church to the alter. He must have walked straight through it. Angus checked his shoes, and sure enough, the soles were stained with red, like ink.  
Quickly now, he reached for the man's wrist and checked for a pulse. The flesh was still slightly warm. For over five minutes, he listened, but there was nothing.  
No pulse. The man was dead.  
Angus sat down heavily on the stone floor next to the dead "Jesus man".  
"Was this why I came here, to this church, to find a dead man?" He rested his tired head in his hands.  
Was God really that cruel? If he hadn't stopped along the way to grab a bite to eat, would he have been in time to save this man? Angus put his head in his hands.  
This was too much; too much like...father.  
If Angus hadn't dawdled on his way home years ago, his father might still be alive today, and not under the ground. He felt the tears prick on the edge of his eyes as he sat by the stranger who was growing colder by the minute.  
The next twenty-four hours happened quickly. To Angus' surprise, a man claiming to be Vash the Stampede had come in and checked for the dead man's pulse. After finding none, he lay the man down in front of the alter, said a few weak and shaky words over him and took his mechanical cross. Vash did not look back, but he did give Angus a few coins and asked that he give the man a proper burial. Angus nodded without looking up. When he did, Vash was gone, with the cross.  
Angus went to the local physician to get some help in moving the body. When he came back with the doctor and a wheelbarrow, he remembered what Vash told him.  
  
"The man was a priest," he whispered sadly, "his name was Nicholas D. Wolfwood, and he saved my life once." Vash swallowed hard. "He was my friend."  
  
Suddenly, Angus heard a choking sound, and he whipped his head up. It came from the direction of the dead priest. Angus ran up to the front of the church, but stopped before he got to the priest. "Wait," he muttered, "it couldn't have been him, he's dead. Yes, he's dead." Angus thought as he stared at Wolfwood's prostrate form on the steps of the alter. He was just about to turn around when his eyes caught something strange. Blankly, he stared at the priest's hand.  
"Vash and I laid the priest's hands on his chest," Angus slowly said to himself, trying to remember their exact position, "but now his right hand is stretched out toward the doors of the church!" Death tremors? He thought to himself...and was just about to approach Wolfwood again, when the hand jerked upwards. Angus jumped back, lost his footing, and landed with a thud on the cold floor. A harsh cough came from the priest as his hand fell again, smacking the stone as his face turned. The coughed up blood trickled down the steps. Astonished, Angus saw one dark gray eye open slightly, then close as the priest passed out again.  
"He's alive..."  
  
It had been a little over a week.  
During that time the priest, Nicholas D. Wolfwood, made great progress. They'd almost lost him, twice since he was brought in, and everyone in the McCray household was on pins and needles until he was in the clear.  
The first time, right after Nicholas was brought into the physician's house, he was so weak, his heart undetectable to the naked ear, and he almost passed away during the night. But in the morning, he was breathing a little steadier and they were able to stop the bleeding.  
For the next few days, Angus and his wife, Lucia had taken turns staying by his bedside. Angus wasn't sure why he put so much stock into saving this stranger, but he felt that if he did save him, it would make up for slightly for the guilt he felt towards his father's death. Twisted logic, which made it no less true.  
The second time was a few days after that, during the early afternoon. The priest started to have palpitations of the heart, and began muttering in his sleep. The doctor came quickly, but moments before Wolfwood lapsed into what seemed like a coma. After finding no pulse, not even with the equipment, the doctor immediately tried to resuscitate him.  
During this time Angus was sure he heard the dying man whisper something that sounded a lot like "...needle noggin! ...It's right next to you...." and "Use it!"  
Finally, the doctor said he located the pulse again. Angus and Lucia sighed in relief and thanked the doctor.  
Nicholas had not woken fully since he was brought into the McCray home, but he talked in his sleep a little. Mostly indecipherable muttering, but now and then Lucia was sure he was talking to a woman, and then Angus thought he picked out the name...  
Vash.  
He had tried to contact Vash after Wolfwood was found to be alive, but he left town hours before, and no one knew in what direction he went. The two insurance girls that came to town with him left within that very hour as well, but word had not reached them either.  
"Poor stiffs..." Angus said to himself, and got up to get a drink.  
"...Vash..." Angus whipped around as he heard the priest, "...wait...don't want...t-to die..."  
Angus crept closer to the delusional man's side as he jerked his head from side to said as he dreamed.  
"...stay...Mi-....milly...stay with...m-me...I...I...haaauh!" Wolfwood suddenly sat up with a guttural yell, his eyes wide and staring, but incontrovertibly, alive.  
"Wh...where...am I..." he breathed as he slowly took in his surroundings.  
Angus smiled with relief. He'll be all right now.  
He's going to be just fine...father.  
  
Wolfwood's recovery went surprisingly fast after he fully awakened, and before long, he was up and about, helping with the household chores and playing with the neighborhood children.  
"He seems so happy at times," said Lucia to her husband one day as she sat down next to him at the breakfast table, "but at other times he just looks heartsick."  
Angus nodded in agreement, "Yeah, Hon," he said, " I reckon he just needs to get back to the people he cares for."  
One day, about two weeks after Angus first found Wolfwood, he came downstairs in the morning to find a small note and a pile of double dollars on the kitchen table. The note was addressed to him and Lucia from Nicholas, saying how much he appreciated their care and hospitality, but that he had to move on now and find the ones he thought he lost.  
Angus read the note a couple of times, then laid it down again for Lucia.  
He understood. The priest was not too good with goodbyes, and he smiled to himself looking out across the reddening desert, "Neither am I. So long priest."  
Off in the distance, the growl of a motorcycle hovered over the still desert air, and Nicholas D. Wolfwood smiled to himself. He was back in the saddle again, and this time, he was going to do it right.

When Vash the Stampede ran into Nicholas D. Wolfwood, very much alive in the middle of the desert, he was...surprised.  
Actually, he thought it was a mirage at first, riding on a bike toward him, and he tried to shut his eyes to free himself from the visions of guilt at his friend's death, and from the weight of his twin brother, Knives, on his shoulder.  
"Vash!" He heard the ghost Wolfwood call.  
"That's it," he thought to himself, "I'm hearing things now." He sighed securing his hold on his brother, who was slung over his shoulder, "Maybe I really am going crazy out here. Well, better keep truckin'."  
"Hey! Needle noggin!" He heard the specter shout, this time a lot closer to him, "Look out!"  
"What the...!" Vash opened his eyes too late and saw Wolfwood and his motorcycle careening toward him, skidding across the densely packed sand. Right. At. Him!  
"Auuughhh!" Vash yelled and threw his brother safely to the side before getting slammed by the bike and doing a sort of double pirouette in the air, before landing heavily on the driver of the motorcycle causing both of them to tumble onto the ground in an undignified heap.  
After that, it was only a matter of shaking Vash the Stampede around until he was totally convinced that Nicholas was not a desert mirage and was, in fact, still alive. And after a few too many collapses and feints, Vash was able to embrace Wolfwood, shocked but thankful that his friend lived.  
Vash apologized profusely for thinking that Wolfwood was dead in the church.  
"That's ok, pal," Nicholas said lightly, "Now that you mention it, I actually think I might have really been dead at the time." He leaned back against his motorcycle and lit a cigarette.  
Vash narrowed his eyes and looked questioningly at Wolfwood. "What do you mean?"  
"Well," Nicholas took a long drag and let the smoke out slowly, his brow furrowed, "I don't remember much to tell you the truth. But, I do remember wanting to live. And then, I heard you say...something, I don't know what. But I thought of you, and the girls, and the life I had just begun to live. And," he narrowed his eyes and stared into the ground, "and I felt so angry, so cheated. I saw myself, against that damn cross, and I knew I was dead." He inhaled steadily on his cigarette and held the smoke, so it came out in gentle curls as he spoke. "I simply didn't...I couldn't accept it. That's all I remember."  
Vash stared at Wolfwood, with a serene smile on his face. "That's it Wolfwood," he said happily, "I guess it just wasn't your time."  
"Guess not," laughed Nick.  
Vash smiled knowingly, "She'll be glad."  
Wolfwood looked up. He knew exactly whom Vash was talking about, because he had been thinking about her ever since he woke up.  
"Yeah." Was all he replied.  
"You know, she really cried for you the day you died," Vash said softly, "and she waited for you, just like you asked her to. She's a really good girl."  
"I just hope she's still waiting," Nicholas sighed, reaching into his pocket for a cigarette. "You know," he drawled, "I bet that other chick would go for you if you asked her. I think, she's got a thing for you, my friend." He winked slyly at Vash.  
Vash stared wide-eyed at Wolfwood, then looked down at the ground as if it was extremely fascinating, "Maybe..." he said.  
"She's a good girl too," Wolfwood said putting out his cigarette on a nearby rock.  
"Mm-hmm," Vash agreed. "Hey, Wolfwood, why'd you put out your cigarette so fast? I thought you really liked them."  
"Oh, I just remembered something somebody told me about second-hand smoke once...awwww, come one let's get going, huh, the suns are really hot!" He shouted.  
Both men got up from the ground stretched their sore muscles.  
"By the way," said Nicholas, "that guy..." he pointed at the figure of Knives who was still unconscious in the shade of a few large rocks, his head carefully propped up on Vash's geranium red coat.  
"Oh," Vash grinned, "that's my brother, Knives"  
Nicholas nearly jumped out of his skin, immediately putting as much distance as he could between himself and the man on the ground. "What!" he yelled, "that's Knives? That's your brother?! The one responsible for the hundreds of deaths we saw?!"  
Vash smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head, "Yeah, that's him all right. Although he's pretty out of commission right now."  
Wolfwood stared in disbelief at the man lying on the ground in front of him. Although he received orders from Knives when he was working for Chapel, he never actually saw Knives in person. He looked just like Vash, except for the hair, which was a little shorter.  
So, this was the man who sent him his last mission. The mission from another time....another life.  
Like another world. Thought Nicholas. He frowned at Vash's brother. Strange, he looked so peaceful as he lay there, still passed out from...well, whatever happened out there between the two of them. Vash had not said anything, and Nicholas had not asked.  
"Vash," Nicholas said under his breath, "I know he's your brother and all, but are you so sure that keeping him around is a good idea, out of commission or not! He's dangerous!"  
Vash's face darkened. "I've made my decision," he said, "and I won't go back on my choice. Knives just needs to see that there is some good in the world, and in its people, and that it doesn't do any good to hate them."  
"And just how are you going to do that?" Wolfwood snorted. "How do you turn a complete psychopath, no offense, into a peace and love kind of guy?"  
Vash put a hand on Nicholas' shoulder and smiled his 60 billion double dollar smile. "That, my friend, is where you come in!"  
Wolfwood stared open-mouthed at Vash, then his shoulders slumped and he sighed wearily.  
"Oh man, why me?" He muttered as Vash happily clapped him soundly on the back, nearly knocking him off his feet.  
Then Vash stuck his free hand out to Nicholas. "For love..." he started.  
Nicholas smirked.  
"And peace." He finished, grabbing Vash's extended hand.  
  
**Next Time on Edge: Chapter 2 Arrivals and Mistakes **


	2. Arrivals and Mistakes

**CHAPTER 2: ARRIVALS AND MISTAKES**  
  
Milly walked brightly down the streets toward the market, humming to herself as she went. She kept close to the sides of the buildings, trying to stay in the shade they cast as much as possible. The money in her pockets jingled with each step, and she kept her tune in time with the rhythm of the change.  
Meryl had sent her out to pick up some necessaries for the week. They had taken to renting a couple of rooms over the town's main saloon, The Rusty Trigger. It could be a little noisy at times, but it was an excellent place to find out what was going on. Meryl had been trying to find out anything she could about Vash, ever since he left town on his own.  
Milly sighed to herself, Poor Meryl, she thought, When Mr. Vash comes back, I hope she'll tell him how she feels right away, so she won't be so sad anymore. My big sister told me, you should always tell people how you feel about them, even if your scared to do it.  
She'd tried to tell Meryl what her big sister told her on several different occasions. But, Meryl would just smile weakly and change the subject. But, Milly wouldn't let up. She knew what it was like to have the person you love right in front of you, only to lose them. And she didn't want to see that happen to someone as good hearted as Meryl.  
Meryl was still back at the saloon, trying to file her report on their latest assignment. Picking up her pace a bit, Milly smiled widely to herself and began thinking about what to get at the market.  
"I wonder if they've got in any pudding in this week?" she said smiling even bigger.

* * *

The suns were setting, casting the town of July in an orange glow. It was actually quite lovely, with its tall white buildings radiating like shining gold from the suns in the West. The plants which the town drew it's power from, glittered and hummed in the distance, giving the impression that the town was alive and waiting for it's time to wake. It's beauty would have made anyone pause in wonder.  
But for Nicholas D. Wolfwood...it just sucked.  
"Damn, is it hot", he breathed, panting for air as he trudged along beside Vash. They had been on the go since the early morning and Wolfwood was practically bathing in his own perspiration.  
"Man", he whined, "If anyone is after us, they won't have a hard time tracking us down. All they'd have to do would be to follow the river I've been sweating for the past fifty iles!"  
"Huh?" Vash turned to look at Nicholas with a puzzled look. "Oh yeah!" he broke into a goofy grin, "I guess it has been hotter than usual out, hasn't it?" He replyed nonchalontly and hoisted Knives up higher on his shoulder before continuing down the road.  
Damn, thought Wolfwood, what is he? He never seems affected by the heat or cold, or anything!  
The town roads seemed deserted.  
"Everyone is inside, staying out of the heat.." Nicholas panted. "Pretty smart if you ask me."  
"Man, you don't look so good", Vash said, glancing at a very woozy Wolfwood, "Hmmm, let's duck in that saloon over there." he said happily, pointing toward a shady little saloon with a large porch and rocking chair in the front.  
"Hmmm, The Rusty Trigger,"Vash read the sign, "sounds like it's got a lot of character!"  
The two of them made their way to the corner saloon and out of the scorching suns. Vash carefully propped Knives up in the rocking chair, and stretched his muscles like he had just been out for a nice evening walk.  
"Mmmmmmahhhh...man, that feels great!" he blurted out, "Huh...?" he turned around to find Wolfwood crawling wearily toward the saloon doors. "That's no way to make an entrance, friend." he said lightly. Vash reached down and heaved Wolfwood up, putting his arm over his shoulders and supporting his weight so he could walk. And together they walked into the saloon.  
The bar was practically deserted, just like the town. The only people there was the barkeep, an elderly couple eating lunch, and a small group of men who looked like they just came in out of a dust storm. The men were talking, drinking, and laughing loudly, apparently celebrating something.  
Vash and Wolfwood made their way over to the corner bar stools and sat down.  
"Can I get you boys anything" the barkeep, a burly brown man with sandy hair asked as he polished a rather dingy looking set of glasses.  
"Sure thing, my friend,"Vash smiled, "You'd better get my companion here some water. We've traveled a long way and he's a little parched. Oh and can I have one too?"  
Wolfwood, who had his head flat on the bar the entire time gave a groan and weak peace sign. "Cheesthe fer bumblebeeths..."he slurred deliriously.  
The barkeep raised an eyebrow at Wolfwood and smirked. "That's not the first or worst case of sun exposure I've seen around these parts. Although, what was he expecting, walking around in a black suit in the middle of the desert?" he said with a chuckle, producing a tall clear glass of water, which he set down in front of the pair.  
Vash eagerly chugged his water down. "Ahhhh! I'm alive again!"  
"Anything else, mister." the barkeep asked Vash.  
"Small glass of rye, if you've got it." he answered. "Actually," Vash stopped the barkeep as he was pouring the drink, "actually, would you please make that two glasses?" he asked, glancing toward the entrance to the saloon.  
"Sure thing." said the barkeep. And produced a second glass.  
Vash took a drink in each hand and started out to the porch. Wolfwood, who had already chugged half his water and poured the other half over his head, caught Vash by the sleeve.  
"Vash, "he said softly, "Knives is out of it. He won't be able to drink anything in his condition. It looks to me that.....he might never snap out of his coma."  
Vash's smile never faltered. "My brother is only in the state he's in because he chooses to be so. He doesn't want to wake up, not yet. But I've still got to try." he said, and walked back out onto the porch.  
"Same old Vash," Nicholas sighed. "You can lead a horse to water, but...aw hell". He went to take another swig of water, only to find he had poured the last of it over his head. "Man..." he whined, and leaned back in the stool, listening to the water drip from his soaked clothes and onto the floor.  
That's when he noticed how quiet the bar had become. The men in the corner were no longer laughing and carrying on like they had been. Nicholas turned his head slightly and watched them out of the corner of his eye. There were seven of them, and they were all huddled together whispering about something. One of the men kept looking over his shoulder in the direction that Vash had just gone.  
"Geez..." Wolfwood said thorough clenched teeth, "I don't like the looks of this. I guess I was too hopeful to expect a vacation around that guy. I forgot about the trouble that follows him no matter where he goes." He could hear Vash on the porch, trying to coax his comatose brother into having a shot of rye.  
Suddenly the men were on their feet and out the door, voices shouting and pistols out. "Let's get him!" they shouted.  
As the last man ran past Wolfwood, he didn't notice a foot stuck casually out in front of his path, and the man did a spectacular fall, spilling out onto the hard dirt floor.  
  
"We've got you, Vash the Stampede! There's nowhere to run, so you'd better just give yourself up, or we'll have to take you out right now!" Six guns were pointed at Vash's back. Vash stood perfectly still, holding a shot glass in each hand.  
"Don't you hear us, you freak!" yelled a bulky man with short black hair and a long moustache that was shaking slightly. "I said give yourself up!" Spit flew from the man's mouth and his eyes were wide, "Turn around!"  
Vash turned slowly, a friendly smile on his handsome face, "Now, gentlemen, that's no way to treat a visitor to your fair city. Violence is never a solution to anything. If you've got a problem, why don't we go inside and talk it over, maybe I can help out with..."  
Two gunshots rang out and Vash was left holding the tops of two broken shot glasses in his hands.  
"Shut up, you!" screamed the moustache man again. "I don't care what you got to say! You're the humanoid typhoon! I know you are! I heard that guy back there call you Vash at the bar, so don't think you can fool me! We're gonna take you out, then collect the 60 billion double dollars on your head, and believe me", he paused menacingly, cocking his pistol as he breathed, "we'd prefer taking you in more dead than alive!"  
Another click sounded and the moustache man froze in terror, a pistol was pressed to the back of his head.  
"You were saying." Wolfwood drawled with a smirk.  
"What the...Sergio!" he moustache man called out.  
"Oh, your friend is taking a little break", Nicholas said, pointing back to the man he had tripped up back in the bar, and who still lay sprawled out under one of the bar stools. "Now, I'll give you and your friends ten seconds to get the hell out of here! One...two..."  
"Let's get out of here, Louis", one of the man's friends said nervously.  
Louis's eye's bulged out of his head and he shook with rage. Vash was looking at Wolfwood with a warning look, but suddenly he raised his head and turned to face the street. There was a rumbling sound coming from around the back of the Saloon. Wolfwood seemed not to notice.  
"Six...seven...eight..."  
In a roar of dust and dirt, a large armored truck barreled around the corner. Several men hung off the sides of the vehicle, which had a large mechanical grappler arm sticking out of the top of it. The arm twisted around until its hand was level with the street curb outside the Saloon.  
"Nine...Te...ahhhhhhhh!" Wolfwood yelped as the arm of the truck knocked him over. Vash moved to help his friend, but the buttonhole of Nicholas's right sleeve hooked over a rod of metal protruding from the mechanical arm, and Nicholas was jerked off of his feet and yanked down the street, still attached to the monstrous truck's arm.  
Louis gave a shout of laughter and jumped onto the back of the truck as it passed.  
"We'll be back for you, Mr. Humanoid Typhoon!" he spat.  
"Shit! Vash, this is all your faaaaauuuullt...!" Wolfwood screamed out as the truck thundered down the street and out of sight.  
Vash smiled and rolled his eyes, Boy, some things never change... he thought.  
He glanced at Knives who still lay peacefully in the rocking chair as if nothing had happened. Vash placed his hand over his brothers limp one, "I'll be back soon brother, don't worry." he said.  
"Hey bartender!" Vash shouted in through the saloon doors.  
"Yeah?" a voice shouted back.  
"Could you please keep an eye on my friend? I have to go take care of something, but I'll be right back! Thank you!" and he was off like a shot in the direction of the runaway truck.

* * *

What's more important? Your job or your life?  
Meryl sat up suddenly in her bed. She had been taking a short siesta from the heat of the afternoon, and had sworn she heard some kind of commotion. She looked out her window towards the same horizon she had been staring at earlier. Nothing. Curious, she slipped into her day clothes again and made her way downstairs.  
The Saloon was deserted, except for the barkeep.  
"I guess that big loud party of drunken slobs has finally left", she said to herself. She noticed, Rickman, the barkeep, leaning against the doorway looking at something. When he noticed her presence he turned around and smiled warmly at her. He liked having the girls living above the saloon. It brought a bit of homeliness to the place.  
"Hey there Meryl, have a nice rest?" he asked politely.  
"Uh, yeah fine Rickman, thank you," she said walking over to him. "Whatcha looking at out there? Any new faces in town?" she never told him whom she was keeping a lookout for everyday.  
"Actually, yes, now that you mention it." Rickman answered pointing a finger out to the porch. "Three men just stopped by, but two of them are off having some fun, and the other one is out on the rockin' chair out there. Looks kinda out of commission if you ask me."  
Meryl humped and pushed her sleeves up. "Great, sounds like some more drunks," she complained as she walked to the doorway and peered around the corner to the porch. "I swear, if this town could somehow claim it's drunken men as a valuable commodity, this would be the richest town on the..."  
She slammed to a halt so suddenly Rickman nearly thought she had run into a brick wall. Meryl stood stock-still, her eyes fixed on the man asleep in the rocking chair as if in a trance. Spiky blonde hair, long limbs, lean build, handsome chiseled features, peaceful expression...it fit...it was him...Vash!  
Meryl leapt foreword out of her trance and ran to the rocking chair, collapsing in front of the blonde man and grabbing him by his lean arms. Her mouthed worked wordlessly for a few seconds, tears gleaming in her eyes, and then finally the words spilled out.  
"Vash! Vash I can't believe it, it's really you! You're back! I can't believe it! This is wonderful! Oh, you big moron! You made us all worry over you, when you were perfectly fine the whole time! I missed you so much, well, we all missed you! But now you're here, and you're all right! I...we were so worried about you! I...uh, we've been waiting here for you to come back, everyday, we've been waiting, and Milly, she was right! You did keep your word, you did come back! I'm so happy you're back ! I...I...uh...Vash?" As Meryl stopped to draw breath for the first time, she noticed Vash was still lying there, asleep. "Huh? Hey, you big lunkhead, wake up! I'm trying to welcome you home!" she punched him lightly on the arm. And still, he slept.  
"Vash!" she said louder, punching again.  
Nothing.  
"Vash!" she yelled, with a stronger punch.  
He snoozed on.  
"VASH!" shouted Meryl into his ear at the top of her lungs, punching his arm with all her might.  
He drooled a little on his shirt, but other than that, nothing.  
"Owww", Meryl winced, holding her sore fist. Her face darkened as she took a closer look at the man in front of her.  
What's wrong with him, she thought, he is Vash, no doubt, maybe a little paler and thinner. And I don't remember his hair being quite that light, but that's probably traveling dust. He seems a bit wasted, but that could be from lack of food or water. What's wrong with him?  
Gingerly, she placed her fingers at the base of his neck and felt for a pulse. His skin was warm and soft, with just a hint of stubble along the jaw line. "There". A pulse. "Oh, Vash..." she sighed, placing her hand so that it covered one of his limp ones, "what happened to you..."  
Rickman came up slowly behind her, concern in his eyes. "Do you know this man, Meryl?" he asked.  
"Quickly Rickman", she said, standing up, "we have to get this man inside. I think he needs medical attention".  
"Uh...sure thing." Rickman shrugged, grabbing hold of "Vash" under the arms, while Meryl hefted the feet.  
Don't worry, Vash, thought Meryl, I'll take care of you.

* * *

Milly was walking back from the market with two bulging bags of food tucked under each arm. The evening was coming on and it was starting to cool down a little. She was whistling the same tune from earlier and was about three blocks from home when she heard an odd rumble in the distance.  
"Hmmm. I wonder what that is?" She said, as she stopped and listened for the sound. It was coming closer, fast!  
Suddenly the truck that snagged Wolfwood burst around the corner and onto the street. Several men hung off the sides, whooping and shooting off their pistols, and the truck's large mechanical arm was swinging out from side to side behind the crazy vehicle.  
Milly jumped out of the way and pressed herself to the side of a building to make room for the truck. "Oh, dear, not again," she said, "those awful drunks are at it again. I don't mind them getting drunk, that's sort of fun, but do they have to cause so much trouble when they do?" Milly sighed and shook her head. Just then the mechanical arm slide over the top of the truck and made a wild sweep in Milly's direction. She shielded herself with her arms and just avoided being whacked by something big, dark, and wiggly. "That was weird," she muttered.  
"Heeeeyyy! Let me off of this damnnn thiiiing!"  
Milly whipped around, That voice!  
For a spilt second Wolfwood and Milly's eyes locked. Mouths opened. Breathing stopped.  
Milly dropped all her bags.  
Then the rumbling truck carried off Nicholas and he was gone.  
It took Milly five seconds to realize the truth and accept it.  
"He's alive..."she breathed, "Mr. Prie...Nicholas..."  
"Heeeeey! Somebody stop that truck!" Vash yelled as he came huffing and puffing around the bend in pursuit of Wolfwood and the gang. "Oh, hi Milly!" He waved happily at her as he ran past. Then Vash rounded the corner and was out of sight as well.  
Milly felt like someone had hit her on the head with a frying pan. "Mr. Vash too?" She said dazedly, "Well, this is a surprise. Hmmm, I guess now that I know what's going on I have to help out too." Milly smiled and threw back her long coat. Underneath was her stun gun, strapped to her back. She swung it over and switched the control panel on. The gun hummed happily, and Milly took off after the action, humming to herself as well.  
"What a wonderful day it turned out to be." She thought.

* * *

Back at the Rusty Trigger Meryl laid out "Vash" on one of the beds in one of the empty rooms upstairs. She was now sitting in a chair pulled up close to his bedside and staring avidly at his face.  
Odd. She thought, He's not wearing his old red jacket. His clothes are, strange, almost like a suit for space.  
The fine features of his face jutted out against the cool light entering the room from its high window. Meryl became mesmerized as she watched the shadows move and sway across his forehead, cheeks, and the bridge of his nose.  
She remembered the first time she ever saw Vash.  
He was tied up at the time, thanks to some huge thug she actually thought was the legendary outlaw. It took her so long to be convinced that he really was Vash the Stampede. Milly was right, she had been peeved by the fact that Milly was right, while she, Meryl, the leader, the smart one, top of her class, with honors, Meryl, had been wrong about him. She remembered the time when she sat next to him on the bus when they met the traveling priest, the time when he saved the lives of the townsfolk that actually tried to kill him, seeing him half naked and covered in scars, his depression over killing Legato, him hugging her tightly that day on the hill, how annoyingly stupid he could be around a pretty girl, his face when he played with the children, drinking with him, while trying to keep Milly from taking off all her clothes, and mostly, she remembered when she first feared for him. The time when she was so panicked by the thought of him lying dead in the street, that she had tried to run back into the burning inferno in order to try and save him.  
What's more important? Your job or your life?  
That was when she realized. She knew the answer to his question.  
It was neither. What most important to her, was him...she loved him.  
She loved Vash.  
She reached out tentatively and touched the collar of his suit. It felt old and fragile. Her fingers slid to the front zipper and traced its length to the collar. Meryl quickly took her hand away, visions forming in her head of zipping open that dingy suit and peeling it away. She found herself longing for him.  
Shaking herself out of her trance, Meryl sat back down on the chair and humped to herself, Yeah, way to go Meryl, she thought, What a great welcome back that would be. Hi Vash, I know you're lying naked on a strange bed in a strange room and I'm the only one here with you. Oh and by the way, I love you, welcome home. Boy. She sighed, I couldn't put that on him. It would just be too much after all he's been through. Nope, better to bide my time for a while. Just enjoy the fact that he's back now.  
Laying her head on top of her folded hands, Meryl relaxed and gazed at "Vash's" face once more. Maybe, I could just... she thought, Hmmmm, it couldn't hurt anything...and besides...he won't know..."  
She lifted her hands to his face and gently stroked a finger slowly across the smooth skin of his cheek, applying as little pressure as possible. Meryl raised her other hand to the other side of his face and stood up so she was directly over "Vash" looking down on him from above. Her two hands caressed the sides of his face from his temple to his chin.  
"Vash," she whispered, drawing the pads of her thumbs across the silky texture of his lips.  
Her face came down within inches of his. She pressed her cheek against his cheek, still keeping her hands clasped gently around his face.  
She inhaled his scent. Bringing her head up over his she gazed longingly at him.  
I shouldn't. she thought, but the feeling was too strong and, like a magnet, she felt herself being drawn into him.  
Breathing deeply, Meryl brought her own mouth down and gingerly make contact with his lips.  
They were soft. Dry. Slightly open. Meryl closed her eyes as she gently brushed her lips slowly across his mouth.  
Finally.  
She had wanted to do this for so long. Imagining how it would be. In her dreams, she saw herself lying next to Vash, playing with his hair and face, just like this. It would be her way of waking him up, she decided. She deepened the kiss. This was perfect.  
Then, without warning, Meryl felt him tense. She froze, and then slowly opened her eyes.  
The first thing she saw was blue. Steely ice blue eyes. Hold the phone, she thought, her lips still pressed to his partially opened ones, Those eyes. But...but I remember Vash having deep blue...aqua eyes. Those don't seem like his eyes. What's going on?" She pulled back slightly.  
  
Knives stared right into her eyes. What's....going on? He thought I...where... who... is it...another dream...?  
He inhaled harshly, never breaking his gaze. His eyes locked onto Meryl's.  
At first all he felt was confusion. But, the more he stared into the eyes above him, the more he became transfixed on the sight. Soft blue with hints of lavender within. How unusual. Beautiful. They reminded him of...butterflies.  
Knives felt like he was falling, like his body was suddenly dropped. He plummeted into the color. A comfortable, warm fall.  
Why....do I...feel..., he thought, I...feel... Knives' body relaxed, and his head sank into the pillow, and his eyes slowly closed. He was asleep again.  
Meryl jumped up in shock, knocking over her chair.  
"What the..." she choked out, putting her hand over her mouth.  
Just then the door sprang open and Vash, Milly, and a very bedraggled Wolfwood all stumbled into the room. Wolfwood was a little cut up and his suit was torn and dusty, but other than that he looked just fine. Milly was supporting him on her shoulder, which he really didn't need, but both of them looked very happy about it nonetheless. Vash was strutting out in front a jug of some kind of booze in one hand, a box of donuts in the other and a big goofy grin on his face.  
They all noticed each other at the same moment and froze in classic surprise.  
Meryl took one look at Vash, then Wolfwood, then back to Vash, then back to Wolfwood again, pointing weakly at each in turn. Her mouth was wide open, but no sound would come out.  
Vash titled his head and smiled brightly, "Hey Meryl, long time no see!"  
Meryl gave a weak little laugh.  
Then fainted dead away.  
  
**Next Time on Edge: Chpater 3: Together and Plans **


	3. Together and Plans

**CHAPTER 3: TOGETHER AND PLANS**  
  
When Meryl opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Milly looking anxiously at her.  
Milly's eyes brightened when she saw Meryl wake, "Oh good!" she exclaimed, "You're finally awake, and here I thought you were going to sleep the whole day away."  
"Uugh", Meryl groaned as she attempted to move. He body felt like lead. She managed to prop herself up against her pillow. Her eyes immediately scanned the room; there was no one there.  
It must have been a dream, she thought and leaned her head back against the headboard. It all seemed so real, though. A little odd, but real. She touched her lips, remembering. If I saw Vash burst into the room, then who was it that I kissed? And what was Wolfwood doing in my dream?  
"Thanks Milly, for waking me up", she said, "I must have been sleeping the morning away, huh? Sorry about that, guess I must have been really tired."  
"Oh, Meryl, you're so funny. Asleep all morning!" Milly laughed merrily, "Hmmm, maybe you hit your head or something when you fell. You've only been out for a little over a half an hour.  
"Huh", Meryl sat up.  
Milly stood and walked to the door. "Well, I better go to the next room and check up on our guests. They've had a long journey and they both look really hungry.!" and she walked out of the room.  
Meryl sat there with a dumbfounded look on her face, "What..? Been out? A half and hour? Guests? Wh...what's going on? Was it all.....real?"  
She sprang out of the bed and made a mad dash for the door. Flinging it open, she pelted around the corner and down the hall. As she raced around the last corner she heard the click of a handle and the sound of footsteps. The door was in sight. She grabbed the handle and threw it open.  
Only to come face to face with the humanoid typhoon.  
"V-Vash?"she whispered.  
He smiled at her.  
Meryl smiled back. She couldn't help it. It was him.  
"Oh, Vash!" she laughed, throwing her arms around him and hugging him with all her strength.  
"Oofph! Hey It's great to see you too Meryl, but would you mind letting me breath so I can live long enough to enjoy it?" he chuckled.  
"Oh, hua, sorry about that..." Meryl said shyly.  
"Hey, it's ok. It's really great to see you." Vash said softly, and brushed some straggling hair away from her eye.  
Meryl gazed at him. That enormous goofy grin, those blonde locks, that tall frame and handsome face. How could she have confused him with that other guy?  
Wait a minute! The other guy! Was this some kind of prank?!  
"All right mister!" she glared slapping his hand away and shooting daggers from her eyes, "What's the big idea? Would you mind explaining to me why there were two of you a moment ago?!" she fumed.  
Vash put his hands up in surrender. "Hey, don't' get mad at me. It's not my fault!"  
"Then who's the other guy who happens to look just like you?!" Meryl glared with her hands on her hips.  
"Huh? Ooohhh I get it. The other guy", Vash said with a look over his shoulder into the room, "is my brother, Knives."  
"Uh.........", her face fell. Vash stepped aside from the doorway. On a bed against the wall was Knives, still asleep, still peaceful. Meryl stepped into the room and stared at the nearly identical men.  
To a perfect stranger the two would have been hard to separate at a glance. Meryl, on the other hand, saw her mistake immediately.  
How could I have confused the two of them? she thought to herself. Although they were twins, she could pick out the differences in a heartbeat. Vash seemed to shine with life and energy, while Knives seemed so dulled and sad somehow. Their hair was different too; Vash had golden blonde locks, while Knives blonde seemed as if it had once been gold, which had worn off after time, leaving it slightly faded.  
Meryl looked at Vash again. His scars were just visible around his sleeves and neckline. She glanced back at Knives. He had no visible scars at all.  
"You're brother?" she frowned. "But.....but wasn't he.... He was the one who caused all that pain and suffering you told me about?" she looked doubtfully at the Knives. "Vash, are you sure this is safe?"  
For a moment, Vash became very serious, "Yes. It's safe. Knives cannot cause any more trouble. He's lost the will. He even refuses to wake up." he said sadly.  
"But he did wake up. I saw it!" Meryl exclaimed.  
"What?!" Vash said, opened mouthed. "He did? He woke up? You actually saw him wake up?" Meryl clamped a hand over her mouth immediately after the words left her lips. She had spoken without thinking. Smooth one Meryl! Now he'll ask you when you saw this and how it happened, and you'll have to tell him he woke up when you were slobbering all over him, thinking it was Vash! she thought furiously.  
Vash bounded over to his brother and began prodding him.  
Knives remained asleep.  
"Meryl", Vash looked at her, "You've got to tell me how it happened. When did you see him wake up?"  
Meryl cleared her throat nervously and fiddled with the hem of her shirt.  
"Uhmmm, I, uh, really don't know how it happened", she stammered, "He opened his eyes for a few seconds when I was.....um....when I was.....well......looking at him."  
Okay, so far so good, Meryl, that wasn't a total lie.  
"And then what happened?" Vash pressed, "Did you do anything?"  
"Uuuuuhhhh", Meryl turned beet red and stared hard at the floor, "Well....I...ummm...touched him....." she said weakly.  
"Show me." Vash said, coming over to stand in front of her. His face was inches from her own.  
"Huh?" Meryl went white.  
"Show me, Meryl." Vash repeated. "Show me what you did to wake him up."  
"Uh.....well, I...." Just then the door was flung open and a blushing Milly came in attached to the arm of a grinning Wolfwood.  
"Hi Meryl!" Milly waved. "Isn't it great to see everyone all together again?"  
Meryl didn't respond. She had already fainted again.  
"Hmm." Wolfwood leaned over her. "She sure seems to do that a lot."

* * *

Meryl awoke to the delicious smells of dinner wafting up the stairs from the kitchen to her dimly lit room. She inhaled deeply and snuggled into her pillow. The texture was smooth and soft, and she rubbed her cheek against it. Suddenly she had a flashback of rubbing her cheek against something else; a man's cheek, a man she thought was Vash.  
She remembered! Her eyes flew open and she sat up in bed.  
"Well, you're finally up." Came a voice.  
Meryl jumped. "Who's there?" She asked, squinting into the dull light.  
Vash leaned forward and Meryl stared open-mouthed at his face, which glowed in the soft light from the window. "I'm glad you're awake. You almost missed dinner." Vash grinned, "I thought I was gonna have to eat your share as well as my own, wow, what a relief."  
He made a joke. Meryl sat dumbfounded for a moment before she smirked herself and said sarcastically, "Yeah, I bet that would have been really difficult for you seeing as how you're such a finicky eater, donut boy."  
Both of them burst into laughter; Vash fall backwards out of his chair, making Meryl laugh even harder than before. God, she had forgotten how much he could make her laugh.  
"Hey come on," Vash whined from the floor, "you've got an injured man down here." He lifted an arm in the air in mock pain.  
Tears of laughter streamed down Meryl's face as she reached out and hoisted Vash up to his knees, until he was leaning his arms on the edge of the bed. "You got yourself into this predicament, mister typhoon, so don't you expect me to kiss it and make it feel all better." She joked.  
She stopped laughed, realizing what she just said, and feeling very awkward and embarrassed. Vash stopped laughing as well and was looking at her with a strange expression on his face. Meryl thought he looked put-off.  
She looked down, red-faced, and wrung her hands. "Umm, sorry, what I meant to say was....umm..."  
Vash caught her hand in one of his. When Meryl looked up, she saw he was smiling at her.  
"Don't worry, Meryl, I know you were joking. Besides, it's not such a terrible prospect now that you mention it." He quirked an eyebrow at her and chuckled.  
"Ha! You're still a leach, Vash!" She teased.  
Meryl relaxed and returned his smile again, softly laughing to herself.  
Just then, light poured into the room as the door was opened wide. Milly came in wearing a cooking apron and tall chef's hat that were both covered in a splattering of sauce. "Soups' on! Come and get it while it's still warm!" She called out happily. "Oh," she paused when she saw Vash kneeling by Meryl's bedside with her hand in his, "I'm sorry, I didn't know I was interrupting anything, I'll just go back downstairs. You two can come down when you're finished." She said backing out of the room.  
Both Vash and Meryl leapt to their feet. "Wait, Milly! It's not how it looks!" They both shouted in unison.  
"Sure, whatever you guys say." Milly replied merrily from the hallway as if she was addressing children who had just been caught with their hands in the cookie jar and were trying to deny it.  
"Well......I guess we had better go downstairs." Vash said.  
"Yeah, you're right, who knows what stories they'll make up down there if we stay up here any longer." Meryl huffed. She started to go but stopped as she remembered something. "Wolfwood."  
"Sorry?" Vash questioned.  
"I saw Wolfwood, alive. He was standing with you and Milly in the doorway. Then later he came in with Milly again." She stammered. "Was.....was that real....or did I...."  
"Nope, you're not hallucinating, Meryl." He said calmly, "I couldn't believe it at first either, but it's really true. He's alive! I'm sure he can fill you in on the whole story when we go down for dinner."  
"Oh....oh my." Meryl breathed, taking it the information slowly. "This is wonderful. Oh, I'm so happy for Milly! She....hey! How come she didn't say anything to me. She just acted like everything was normal. She didn't mention once that Wolfwood was back!"  
"I think", Vash begin, "that she didn't want to upset you anymore. She accepted Wolfwood coming back to life almost immediately. She even helped rescue him from a band of thugs. I think she thought it would take you a little longer to come to grips with it, that's all."  
"Milly," Meryl said smiling down at the floor, "she still manages to surprise me sometimes." She chuckled again and looked back up at Vash. His eyes sparkled in the glow of the rising moons as he smiled at her, and she felt herself melt at the sight of him. "Alright you," she said grabbing his arm, "let's get downstairs before those two human vacuums inhale all the food!"  
"Yes, ma'am!" Vash saluted.  
Meryl marched off toward the stairs with Vash following happily in her wake.  
She really is a good girl." He thought, gazing at her rich black hair as it bounced out behind her.

* * *

Louis pounded his fist on the rickety table. The half empty beer and liquor bottles clanked as they rolled together from the force. A few fell off the table and smashed to the ground with harsh crashes. Louis seemed not to notice. He was shaking with rage.  
"That...arrogant... bastard...!" He seethed.  
"Calm down, Louis." Said a tall red-haired man from across the beaten table. "It wasn't your fault! I mean, he is the 60 billion double dollar man for a reason you know...."  
"Shut up, Sean!" The angry man shouted. "I know...I know...I KNOW!" He grabbed a full bottle of bear and hurled it against the wall.  
"Hey man, that was my beer!" Whined a short bald man seated next to him.  
"Yeah? So what Tony!" Louis yelled. "That son of a bitch humiliated us today! And just when we were so close to getting our hands on that reward stash to!" He fumed as he nursed a banged and bandaged arm. "Damn him, it'll take weeks for my arm to heal."  
Louis slumped back into his chair. Sean and Tony looked at each other, utterly confused.  
"But you know, Louis, there were others with him." Tony piped up. "It wasn't like he was all on his own, ya know."  
"Yeah!" Sean added. "If he was alone, we could take him down, no problem."  
Louis breathed heavily through his massive moustache. "That stun gun bitch and that fucking priest...those shits..." His eyes moved back and forth rapidly as his brain worked.  
Then, an idea.  
His face cleared and a toothy grin appeared from behind his moustache as he leaned forward on the table.  
"I guess we've got no choice boys. We'll just have to take his little friends out first, that's all."  
Sean looked like a baboon that had just been asked to solve a very difficult calculus problem. "Uh...how are we gonna do that, Louis?" He asked.  
"Yeah", Tony squeaked, "it's not like he's gonna take a stroll on his own anytime soon, now he knows we're still around."  
"Well," Louis smugly leaned back in his chair, "we'll just have to find out which of his little buddies is his favorite. Then we'll grab the sucker and use'em as bait to lure that half-wit out to the desert. The other's 'll be too busy lookin' all over town for them, and that," Louis smashed an empty bottle against the table and pointed the broken point out in front of him, "is when we'll take him down."

* * *

Milly had never been so happy in her entire life. Not only had the man she loved come back from the dead, she had all her friends together sharing a warm delicious meal in perfect peace.  
Well....I guess it's relatively peaceful... She thought to herself as she watched Vash and Wolfwood wrestle each other for the last flapjack.  
"Hey leggo! I reached for this one first!"  
"No way! You had like ten of them already! I've only had eight!"  
"Whatever! I saw you snitch five before dinner!"  
"Did not!"  
"Liar!"  
"Needle noggin!"  
"Boys! Knock it off! Honestly, you're both behaving like four year olds!"  
Milly smiled, misty eyed at all of them, as she reached over, speared the last flapjack for herself and ate it in two bites. "Isn't it great being all together like this again!" She said through the mouthful of food.  
Vash and Wolfwood both gaped for a second, and then fell over in defeat. "Maaannn." They both whined in unison.  
"Well, it serves you both right." Meryl said shortly, crossing her arms in a huff.  
"Who wants dessert?!" Milly called out as she sprang up from the table.  
Wolfwood and Vash immediately leaped back into their seats and raised their hands like school kids. Meryl shook her head as Milly went to the kitchen to get dessert.  
"So, Mr. Wolfwood," she turned to the priest.  
"Please, call me Nicholas." He said, wiping his mouth with his napkin.  
"Well thank you, Nicholas. I just can't get over your story. It still really seems like you've come back from the dead. I just so amazed you survived all of that."  
"Thank you. I'm pretty happy to still be alive and kicking." Nicholas said kicking Vash in the leg when he caught him trying to snitch some bacon off of his plate.  
"Ow! Dammit, that hurt. Geez, I'm glad for the alive part, but not the kicking bit." Vash moaned.  
Meryl laughed at the two of them good-naturedly. "Milly is right though, we have missed the two of you very much. Life just wasn't as exciting without you. By the way, you two still haven't told me how you got away from that gang earlier today. I'm really surprised, this is such a quiet little town."  
Vash laughed and put his hands behind his head, "Gee it wasn't too tough, nothing an ace gunman like myself couldn't handle." He gave Meryl a roguish wink. She blushed pink and looked down.  
"Uh-huh," said Nick, "and that's why all the thanks for my rescue goes to the big girl here. Isn't that right, honey?" He turned to the kitchen door where Milly stood with a tray full of pudding bowls.  
"Oh it was nothing, Dear." She said merrily.  
Vash sunk under the table, looking embarrassed. "Hey, I helped." He sulked.  
"Now Nicholas," Milly said as she put the tray on the table, "Mr. Vash is right. He was a great help and you know it. Who else could have distracted that truck by pretending to let it chase him so I could shoot the grappling arm to free you? By the way, Mr. Vash, I have to tell you how impressed I was at your acting. You really made it look like you were running for you life." Milly smiled innocently and filled her bowl with a heaping amount of pudding. The others looked at Vash.  
"Uh...haha..." he laughed weakly, sinking so low under the table all they could see was the spikes of his hair.  
"I see." Said Meryl, raising an eyebrow at Vash. That doofus, she thought happily, he'll always be like that. I'm so glad.  
"More pudding anyone?" Milly piped.  
  
It was late in the evening when they cleaned the table. The shadows crept into the room and the night breeze came in soft cooling waves. The four friends felt comfortable and content for the first time in a long time. Meryl was showing Milly how to can the leftover food so it would last longer, when Wolfwood came up behind them and tapped Milly on the shoulder.  
"How about joining me for a walk girl? It's a gorgeous evening." He said and extended his arm for her.  
"Oh, that sounds like a great idea, Nicholas. I'll be ready after we finish cleaning up." She indicated the piles of groceries, leftovers, and dirty dishes heaped all over the kitchen.  
Meryl saw Wolfwood glance at the state of the kitchen dejectedly and turned to go.  
"Wait a minute!" She called out. "Milly, why don't you go on ahead with Nicholas? I'll finish up in here."  
"Are you sure, Meryl?" Milly asked in a concerned voice.  
"Absolutely", Meryl answered. "Go on now, get out of here. The evening's too nice to miss!"  
Wolfwood's face lit up as he and Milly were shooed out of the room. Before leaving, he caught Meryl's eye and mouthed Thank you.  
Meryl smiled at them as they strode out into the open air, arm in arm. But her smile faded when she turned to face the disaster area that was the kitchen. Boy, you both owe me, big time!

* * *

Wolfwood felt Milly clutch tighter to his arm and shiver slightly from the cold. He wrapped his free arm around her shoulder and drew her close to his chest. The porch swing they were sitting on creaked with every move they made, but it soon fell into a soothing rhythm. Milly rested her head on Nicholas's chest and breathed deeply. She could hear his heart beating, the pace increasing slightly every minute.  
Tilting her head, Milly gazed up at the night sky, now illuminated with stars. Mesmerized, she watched them twinkle and shine.  
"You were right. It is beautiful tonight." She breathed.  
Wolfwood looked down at her and moved his hand to intertwine his fingers with her own. His other hand, which was around her shoulder, played absently with her long soft hair.  
"Almost as beautiful as you are, big girl." He said smiling at her.  
"Oh, Nicholas, you say the funniest things sometimes." She giggled.  
"Hey! I wasn't trying to be funny!" Nick pouted folding his arms in mock anger. "I was trying to be romantic! Hmmm, I guess I'm not that good at it yet."  
Milly put her arms around his shoulders and drew him close. Her breath tickled his ear as she said, "I think you're very good at it."  
Wolfwood felt his senses leap at the slight vibration her words caused. His whole body seemed to tingle from the sensations as Milly continued to hug him tightly, her warmth pressed against his chest, and her hands gently rubbing his back. He brought his own arms around her and pulled her even closer, resting his face on the sensitive skin of her neck. Milly giggled again, "You're stubble tickles," she whispered in his ear.  
Again Wolfwood shivered at her words, "And your mouth is doing the same to me. And I only know one way to stop it." He said deeply as he brushed his lips along her exposed neck, up across her check and finally came to rest on her mouth. He kissed her as lightly as he possibly could, savoring each point of contact. He knew he wouldn't be able to hold out for very long, but to his surprise, Milly leaned forward first, pressing hungrily into him. Chuckling to himself, Wolfwood put all his passion into returning her kiss. Both their hands clutched each other's arms and backs. Wolfwood found Milly's hair and sank his hands into it. Milly caressed her way down his back, pressing her palms into his lower spine and massaging some of the tension from it. Wolfwood groaned into her mouth from the feeling, and they both inhaled deeply as the sound heightened the pleasure of their embrace.  
This is what I've been missing, Wolfwood thought to himself. I've found my home. And he deepened their kiss again.  
All at once his eyes shot open in surprise. He gave a squeak and nearly jumped right out of his shoes. Milly had brought both her hands down and was firmly squeezing his butt. She paused to look at Nicholas, "What's the matter?" She asked innocently.  
"I...wa...uh...umm," he stammered, "it's just...that..I thought that...well, I know last time was a bit of a whirlwind, but I thought you would want to take slow this time?" He said, his face glowing bright red, shocked at her sudden forwardness. "I never would have pegged you as the aggressive type in a situation like this."  
Milly smiled brightly, "Oh, Nicholas, you really are funny. Isn't this what you wanted to do when you took me out on a stroll tonight?"  
Wolfwood stared, open-mouthed.  
"It's all right, dear," Milly chirped, "that's why I came with you. After all, when two people love each other, it's part of what they do, isn't it?"  
"Milly..." Wolfwood breathed as he reached out a hand to stroke her cheek. "Do you...love me?"  
Her eyes glistened in the moonlight as she gazed at him, "Yes I do, Nicholas. I know I didn't say it before, and that last time I...well, I wanted to say it, but I guess I was too scared." She looked down as if she was ashamed of herself.  
Wolfwood placed a finger under her chin and lifted her face to his. Then he reached out, took hold of both her hands and placed them soundly on his butt again.  
"So was I." He spoke softly, and kissed her.

* * *

Meryl glanced at the clock on the mantle over the kitchen fireplace. Eleven-thirty, and those two still weren't back from their "walk." She surveyed the spotless kitchen once more and dried her hands on the kitchen towel. As she did, she grinned to herself. Vash had come down halfway through the cleaning and volunteered to help. He seemed to hang on her every instruction. How to preserve leftovers, how to get out nasty grease stains, how to clean up broken glass properly. (He had accidentally broken several jars at once when he attempted to juggle them into the cupboard at the same time.) Meryl chuckled at the memory. It surprised her that she didn't get too upset at his little blunders anymore, because, she knew that's all they were, and they made him even more endearing.  
"Hmm, I never would have thought I'd ever find that clumsy broom-head cute."  
Meryl threw the towel in the laundry bin and made her way over to the couch by the back door. She flopped down and stretched her limbs luxuriously, cracking her joints and giving a loud sigh. Vash had gone upstairs moments before to check on Knives and to see if he was hungry at all. Meryl still felt a little guilty over the incident earlier this afternoon, and tried to put it in the back of her mind. She closed her eyes, and was asleep almost instantly.  
From behind the thick curtain of night a pair of dark narrow eyes watched her through the rusty screen door**.  
  
Next Time on Edge: Chapter 4 Dreams and Reality **


	4. Dreams and Reality

OK. I know the butterfly on the SEEDS ship was white, but work with me here.  
  
**Chapter 4: Dreams and Reality**  
  
He was dreaming again. He found himself floating in cool blue liquid, much like the plant machine. The only difference was that there were no glass walls surrounding this liquid. It just seemed to go on and on. He had tried to swim to the edge of the water many times, but it always seemed to be just out of reach. He knew there was something there, something he had to find. He would get right up to what looked like a surface or a barrier, and then wake up a second before touching the edge. This would frustrate him to no end making his lips curl into a sneer even as he slept.  
One thing was odd though. Every time he got close to the edge of the water, the color would change. The shift was slight at first, but would deepen in intensity the further he swam. Instead of a light blue, the water would change to rich lavender, as if the sun was melting into the color, blending it to the warmer hue. The wings of the butterfly. Like the one on the ship so long ago. Was that what was on the other side? He didn't care. Whatever was past the edge of the water, Knives knew he had to have it.

* * *

Down the hall...  
_They had been through so much together. He was dangerous, but she managed to stay with him. Refusing to leave. Facing the danger with him. For him.  
He reached out to embrace her and the world dissapeared. All he could see and hear and feel was her. She filled his brain and senses with her scent and he felt his body react with a rush of adreneline. Their arms wrapped tightly around each others bodies, and each touch and brush of skin sent thrills of electricity through their veins. His hands came up to cradle her face and his fingers buried themselves in her dark hair as he tilted her chin up to meet his open mouth. She parted her lips to deepen the kiss as her tounge slid lightly over his bottom lip. He groaned at the sensation and pressed her closer. His hands began a slow but heated search of her body. She twisted with pleasure as his hands carressed her shoulders, pulling the thin straps of her undershirt down. Pressing the warmth of his mouth along her bare neck and shoulders, he lowered his hands to grasp her hips. The erotic feel of his wet warm tounge against her skin made her press her hips into his groin and he nearly doubled over her as he moaned deeply from the back of his throat.  
Their eyes locked, souls speaking through them as they easily read each others intentions. Her lips made their way along his sharp jawline to his ear, which she traced with her tounge, stopping to capture his earlobe. He gasped sharply and grabbed her around her bottom, grinding their hips together again. The hard length of him pressed and rubbed against her stomach, making her moan softly into his ear. He coudn't take it anymore. He snatched her up by her waist and swooped her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. She laughed brightly and giggled as she pretended to fight for her freedom, but ended up planted kisses on his exposed back as he carried her toward the room at the end of the hall. Once inside, they fell onto the bed, kissing and laughed as they rolled around, each reveling in the feel of the other. Her hands found their way into his pants._  
  
Meryl's eyes shot open as she sat up in bed. She found she was sweating and breathing rather heavily for such a cool night.  
That dream.  
She had been having that dream ever since Vash returned with Knives, and she always woke feeling aroused and unsatisfied. Damn, was that frustrating!  
"This is getting really annoying", she muttered to herself as she wiped her face with a damp cloth from the bathroom.  
Meryl flopped down on the mattress, still pressing the cold cloth to her forehead. The dream really woudn't be so bad, she thought, if I got to finished it at least once. The breeze from the open window caressed her damp skin, causing ghost sensations of her dream man's hands as they brushed, feather light, over her bare arms and legs. She shivered from the stimulation and rolled over, sighing hoplessly.  
"I'm just glad that no matter how amazing Vash is," she said tiredly, "at least he can't read my mind."  
  
Across the hall in his seperate room, Vash was sitting straight up, taking large panting breaths of air, and trying to get his body to clam down from the errotic display of images he had just seen. He knew he shouldn't peak in on Meryl's mind in the middle of the night, but he just couldn't help himself. Usually he couldn'tsee anything anyway. Only when the image or thought was felt with very strong emotion could he pick up on it's signal, and even then it was shaky at best. But these new dreams....  
He stood up and shook his head to try and clear it. These dreams were as clear and vivid as if they were completely real. Vash could still feel the soft tickle of Meryl's mouth against his ear. That rebelious body of his reacted immedeatly and he flopped into bed, pressing himself deeply into the hard mattress to releave some of the tension.  
"Ugh. I can't take this much longer." he moaned sadly.  
He cared about her so much. He wanted to protect her, to stay with her for as long as he could. She was the only girl he wasn't able to chase off. But something held him back. Everytime he tried to say something to her, his voice seemed to stop in his throat.  
"I can't...I can't tell her...everyone I've ever cared for has always been hurt. I can't put her in that kind of danger...she's...she's too important. I...what am I feeling? It's like...Rem...but different somehow...I, aww shit..." he whinned, giving up and thowing his arms up. "I'll just have to get my mind on something else! Hmmm, dounuts...pretty girls...heroic resuces...the way Meryl's eyes light up...aww crap..." Vash cried tears of frustration and threw his pillow against the wall.  
  
Down the hall, Knives face twitched and his mouth opened slightly, gasping for a moment before he relaxed back into complete silence and peace.

* * *

A soft wind blew through the open window into the upstairs bedroom, causing the curtains to flutter lazily. The room sat thick in silence and shadow, except for the steady breathing of its one occupant. Knives had not opened his eyes since the incident with Meryl two weeks ago.  
Shortly after that day, Meryl was able to find them a house on the outskirts of town. The rent was very reasonable, and there was a much slimmer chance of anybody recognizing Vash as the Humanoid Typhoon. During that time, the rest of the household had lapsed into a steady routine.  
Milly got herself a job on the construction crew in town to help cover their expenses. Wolfwood, ironically enough, took over as the town's local chaplain. Meryl was able to capitalize on her skills in free-lance writing, sending in articles for the big Seven-Cities Newspaper, which circulated to nearly every settlement on the planet. The only one unemployed was Vash, who spent all his time caring for Knives. He constantly kept a close eye on his brother for any change in his condition. Meals were always brought up to him, even though he didn't eat them, his sheets were changed, his room cleaned, and Vash always talked to him, even though he never responded.  
Even though he tried to seem like his usual cheery self, Meryl could tell that Vash was becoming gradually more downhearted about his brother's condition. His smiles became more and more hollow, his usually peppy conversation began to lag, and he began spending more time down at the bar.  
  
People only drink when they want to forget something. she remembered, as she watched him trudge his way down to the town one evening.

* * *

One night Meryl found she just couldn't get to sleep. After hours of tossing and turning she finally gave up and went downstairs to get a glass of water. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she paused. There was a small noise coming from the kitchen at the end of the hallway. As she got closer to the doorway she could make out soft sobbing sounds coming from the room.  
Peering around the corner, she saw Vash sitting at the table with his head pillowed in his arms. His shoulders shook from the tears he was trying to hold back. He had obviously had a hard time sleeping as well; he was only dressed in his pajama bottoms, leaving his chest and feet bare. The moonlight cut across the definitions on his muscles and his many scars and patches. Meryl stood fascinated by his body. She remembered how he said he thought girls would run away at the sight of him. But all she felt was the strong desire to touch the exposed skin, and gently trace each of his many scars. She felt her cheeks go pink at the thought.  
The image of herself kissing Knives flashed into her mind and she felt a lump of ice in her stomach. She groaned inwardly, remembering her blunder, and feeling extremely guilty for not telling Vash the whole truth. She had so wanted it to be him at the time that her mind must have let her believe it.  
Peeking around the door frame, Meryl wondered if it would have felt different had it been Vash she'd kissed.  
She could do it now. Just sneak up behind him and pounce.  
She played the scene out in her head, watching as she crept up slowly and placed her hands over his eyes. He would exhale passionately as she whispered into his ear and slid her hands over the smooth skin of his exposed shoulders and chest. He would clasp her by the arms and pull her onto his lap. She envisioned him opening his beautiful tear-stained eyes as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in closer. She watched in rapt anticipation as their faces inched closer. Their breath began to tease the sensitive skin of their faces and necks as their mouths came closer...closer...  
Meryl snapped out of her daydream when she heard a harsh heaving sob come from the kitchen.  
Vash sank down further onto the table, the sobs deepened until they wracked low in his throat. Meryl felt her heart ache and she shifted uncomfortably. She knew he was crying over Knives.  
What should I do? she thought to herself. Should I talk to him, or just leave him alone for now? Would I just be making it worse...? I wish I were more like Milly. She would just go right over there and put her arms around him without a second thought. But...but, what if he tells me to leave him alone? I don't think I could take that...  
Before she had a chance to decide, Vash raised his head and glanced over his shoulder at her.  
"Oh..." he choked out, quickly wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. "H-hey, Meryl. I uh, didn't hear you come in." he made a vain attempt at cheerfulness by grinning adorably up at her through his red puffy eyes. Meryl felt suddenly embarrassed for spying on him like she did.  
"Uh, hey, Vash..." she managed.  
"I see you couldn't sleep either, huh? Got a lot on your mind?" he patted the chair next to him, indicating that he was ready to listen to her troubles.  
"Vash..."  
Now Meryl felt really embarrassed. Not only was she spying on him and fantasizing when she should have been trying to comfort him, but he was now doing his best to comfort her despite his own pain.  
How could I ever deserve someone like him? she thought, as she sat down in the chair.  
"You want some coffee?" Vash asked briskly. "I made a fresh pot. I'm not that good at it yet, but hey, at least it's the right color! I think I got the right beans this time. You were right; the red beans don't work too good. You take sugar, right? Here you go. So, what's on you mind?" he plunked the steaming cup in front of her and sat back down, his face showed nothing of his earlier distress.  
Meryl watched him bustle, half-naked, around the kitchen in disbelief. He was so upset a second ago. He's blocking me out, pretending like nothing's wrong. She thought. He did this once before, that time after he shot Legato. And I did nothing then. I could have talked to him, helped him. But I was afraid, I hid from him. I listened to him cry behind a closed door, and I did nothing.  
Meryl looked into Vash's smiling face, his muscular frame which had been wracked with sobs only second before, and to the cup of cold coffee in front of him, obviously poured some time ago, but long forgotten in his tears.  
Well, she resolved, this time I won't make the same mistake. I don't care if I get rejected. Someone has to be here for him.  
"You ok there, Meryl?" Vash questioned with a concerned look on his face, "You're holding your cup so tight it's gonna crack in half."  
"I'm just fine, Vash, in fact I've never been better." she said resolutely, looking right into his eyes and setting her cup back down. "I've actually been worried...about you. That's why I couldn't sleep, tonight."  
Vash's face fell slightly. "Me", he laughed, "why would you be worried about me? I'm doing great! Nobody's chasing me for the bounty on my head, I'm finally living a peaceful life, a donut shop just opened next to the bar, it can't get much better than this!" he took a swig from his cold coffee cup and half chocked half laughed through his weak smile.  
"Stop it, Vash!" Meryl said firmly, slamming her hand down on the table and standing up. Vash froze, cup in hand, and looked at her with wide eyes.  
Meryl sat down and said in a gentle voice, "It's alright, you can tell me what's wrong. I'll listen to you. I'll try and help you if I can. Please, let me try and help."  
The silence grew until the room seemed to hold its breath.  
Oh well, I better just ask him.  
"Is it Knives?" she asked tentatively.  
Vash looked at her for a moment then frowned, staring down into his coffee.  
"It's ok." Meryl said softly, "I want to help. Tell me. Please?"  
A cover of clouds slide across the moon, blocking it's light. The kitchen dropped into a thick veil of darkness, throwing Vash's face into the deep shadows.  
"He...he's not going to wake up." he said weakly, clenching his hands.  
His pain was so audiable, Meryl had to hold back her own tears as he spoke.  
"I don't think he'll ever wake up, and...it's all my fault. What...what've I done?" Tears began forming in the edges of his eyes again as he spoke.  
Meryl placed her hand over one of his clenched firsts, indicating that it was all right for him to continue. Vash exhaled shakily and went on.  
"I thought that when I got him back here, back to a town with lots of people in it, that he would see. Knives would realize the good in people. I told Wolfwood, I thought he, and you girls, would h-help him to see that g- good." he was having a hard time holding back the flow of tears now, and he put a hand over his face as he went on." But, it's been four weeks now, since we've c-come back...almost a month...and...he just won't wake up. I've tried everything. I've talked to him, shook him, t-tried to get him to eat, taken care of his wounds. He refuses to wake up! I don't know what else to do! Dammit! Damn him!" Vash slammed his other hand down on the table, causing the coffee to splatter all over the tabletop.  
Meryl kept her hold on his first as he openly cried. "Oh, Vash...".  
"If I ha-dn't shot him s-so many times...maybe if I...I...i-it's all my f-fault...I..." he faltered., and buried his head in his open arm.  
"Stop that,Vash!" Meryl said firmly. "You did the right thing. You saved Knives. You saved him from himself, and you saved all of us. Stop beating yourself up over him. You couldn't have known this was going to happen. Besides, you could have killed him, but you didn't, even after all the horrible things he's done. That proves, at least to me, that you're a good person." she said, gently squeezing his hand and looking directly into his sad face.  
"But", Vash managed a bit more calmly, "w-what if he never wakes up? Won't that be the same as killing him?"  
"It will be alright, Vash." she said reassuringly, "Maybe you just need to give Knives some more time? Considering how long you two have been around, a month isn't all that long, is it?" Meryl smiled. She felt his clenched hand relax a bit.  
The moon reappeared from behind the clouds and the kitchen was bathed in an iridescent glow. Vash's face cleared as well, and he seemed to make a mental decision. He turned to give her a genuine smile this time.  
"Yeah. You know, you're right, Meryl." he said shakely. "I should give him some more time. After all, he might come out of it any day now, he has been sleeping a little easier. Besides," he laughed slightly, "he's probably just getting back at me for beating him up again."  
Vash looked at her warmly. "Thank you." he said.  
Meryl was about to tell him he was welcome, when she felt his free hand close over hers, trapping it warmly between his two large palms. She instantly lost the ability to speak, and her cheeks felt so hot, she was sure he would notice. His hands were warm and callused, and they moved over hers in a gentle motion. A tingling sensation began to come from her hand and traveled up her arm. She held her breath and tried to suppress the shivers it was giving her from this slight contact. Then she made the mistake of looking into his eyes.  
Breathe, Meryl, her mind commanded her.  
Vash was staring at her with an expression she had never seen before. His tourquise blue eyes shone out from under his messy blonde hair, and even in the dark she could see the pure happiness radiating from his smile. A smile from his heart, a true smile. ...beautiful... she thought. And I did that. I caused that smile. Nobody else. she looked back at his face and found that she could smile back with just as much joy as he did. I really do love him... she thought.  
And without warning she leapt foreword and wrapped her arms around his neck, burring her face in his neck and hugging him as tightly as she could. Vash "umphed" a little, then laughed lightly as he returned her embrace, pulling her onto his lap so she wouldn't knock them both over.  
"Gee, Meryl", he joked, "and here I thought you were the one trying to cheer me up."  
"Oh," she pulled back a bit, red in the face at her boldness, "sorry, I guess I got a little carried away..." Meryl was just about to put her hands on the table to lift herself up and away from Vash, when she felt him grab both her hands and hold her in place.  
"It's ok." he whispered. "I...sort of...like it..."  
Meryl sat open-mouthed as Vash gently pulled her towards him and placed her arms around his shoulders. One arm wrapped one around her waist and the other up around her shoulder, pressing her close to his chest. His chin rested in the crook of her neck. Meryl was tense with shock.  
Huh, she thought, he's not being a pervert, that's weird for him under the circumstances.  
"Is this alright?" he asked tentatively.  
"Y-yeah," she managed. Oh my God! Yes!!! her mind screamed.  
Soon, she felt her muscles relax, and she melted into the curves of his body.  
The areas of exposed skin on his back were smooth and cool against her fingertips. She could feel the metal contours from his many patches and scars press into her chest and side, and she shifted slightly.  
"I'm not hurting you, am I?" he questioned nervously.  
"No." she breathed. If this hurting me, I have now officially become a masochist.  
They remained that way, warm and comfortable, for quite some time, until Meryl noticed Vash's breathing had become slow and steady, as if he had fallen asleep. She didn't mind. It was wonderful to her to simply stay like this for as long as she could. Meryl had never felt so content and peaceful in her whole life. This was perfect. Vash shifted his arms slightly and sighed.  
"This is....nice..." he breathed.  
  
ILLUSTRATION: Holding You (Go to Ricki's Trigun Anime Page)  
  
He slid his hand down her shoulder and gently brushed the bare skin on her upper arm. Meryl's heart jumped into her throat and her stomach did several flip-flops. Every tiny touch seemed to be electric, and every point of contact tingled through her like a current. The fingers of Vash's other hand made little lazy circles on her back, causing her heart to pound in her chest. Her neck tickled from his half-day beard and his soft breath against her skin. Meryl thought she might burst from all the sensations he was causing. It was just like the dream.  
"V-Vash..." she squeaked.  
Vash pulled away and looked at her with dreamy eyes. His face was inches away from hers. She could feel his steady deep breath on her face.  
"Vash..." she began, holding his gaze the best she could "....I..."  
All at once the outside door to the kitchen flew open and Wolfwood and Milly stumbled into the room, both of them more than a little drunk.  
"Nichholus...I said wait until we get insiiide," Milly giggle trying to push his hands out from under her coat.  
"Can I help it, honey?" he drawled, "I've always wanted sextuplets...oh, hey are we interrupting something?!" They both stopped short when they saw Vash sitting at the kitchen table with Meryl sitting on his lap in a very compromising position. Meryl "epped' and jumped up, her face burned bright red, although she actually felt the room was quite cold now.  
Milly gazed at the couple through glazed eyes, "Oh, I'm so happy!" she grinned lopsidedly, "You finally told him Meryl, I'm so proud of you, what a peasant surprise!"  
"Pleasant." Wolfwood corrected without missing a beat. His face lit up and he grinned wolfishly. "Hey, don't mind us you two. Vash, you dog, I leave you alone for a couple of hours and you're already at it! Ha ha ha! We'll just go upstairs so you two can be alone, or maybe you two would like to go upstairs?" he winked slyly at Meryl.  
Meryl had never been so embarrassed in her entire life. Vash actually turned bright red himself and his hair seemed to stand straight up on end all by itself.  
"Come on!" he bristled standing up, "Nothing happened, it's not like that Wolfwood, so just knock it off you perv!"  
"Whoa! Look who's talking Mr. Womanizing Typhoon? Or maybe that wasn't you trying to look up girl's skirts in the bar the other night. All right, we're going. Come on, babe, I've got a bottle stashed upstairs with our names on it!" he leaned on Milly as she helped him stagger towards the hallway. Meryl and Vash stood in stunned silence.  
"You twho be carefful nohw," Milly slurred, "rehmember to use yer protecthon, Meryl." she said as she and Wolfwood turned the corner and disappeared, although they could be heard tramping nosily up the stairs.  
Meryl felt like sinking into the floor and disappearing forever. She couldn't even meet his eyes as she said, "Umm, I...think I'll go to bed now, Vash." she cursed herself mentally, Crap, bad thing to say, smooth one Meryl! Uhngh!  
Vash was silent.  
"Night." she said quickly and escaped out into the hall.  
Vash watched her go, following the lines of her body as she turned the corner in a rush. Then he left out the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding in. Whew, that had been close.  
It was still warm where she had been sitting on his lap. Vash ran his hand over the material of his pants, trying to get his heart to slow it's hyper hammering. A couple more seconds and he might have...  
He closed his eyes and saw an image of Rem pass through his memory, falling to the dry planet in her burning ship.  
No...his mind was already made up. He never wanted anything like that to happen again to someone he lo...cared about.  
He gazed fixedly at the door again, wondering back to something the big insurance girl had said. What did Milly think Meryl told me just now?  
A passing cloud swept across the moon, covering Vash and the kitchen in darkness again. Outside in the cold, a lone figure knelt just out of sight, thoughally enjoying the scene being played out before him.

* * *

Louis squinted his dark narrow eyes as he peered out from behind a giant boulder at a small farmhouse on the outskirts of town. He grinned maliciously. This was the perfect lookout to take out Vash the Stampede. He won't know what hit him.  
"Hey, boss?" Sean questioned, "How do you know he's in there?"  
"Because," Louis growled, "I saw them all earlier around the kitchen, you numbskull."  
Tony and Sean looked at each other nervously and clutched their guns tighter in their hands. "But", Tony squeaked, "whatta we do now that we've found 'em?"  
Louis narrowed his eyes, grinning maliciously toward the quiet little house. "We take out his favorite one first, fer bait, just like we planned."  
"And which one is that, boss?" Sean asked, scratching his head.  
"Where have you been lookin' this whole time?" Louis shook his head, "I can tell which one is his favorite, no doubt."  
The other two leaned in toward him, waiting for him to let them in on the secret.  
"It's that short, skinny girl in the white coat, you stupid idiots! Geez! Any moron could figure that out! Now all we gotta do is wait until she's alone, then we ride in and snatch her! That's bastard! We're gonna get him where it hurts! And then, we'll take him down and collect all that reward money!" Louis laughed evilly at his own master plan.  
Sean leaned across and whispered to Tony, "You think it's gonna work?"  
Tony shrugged.

* * *

The dream was back again, only darker this time. The calm blue liquid became a raging whirlpool that threatened to suck him down into a black abyss. He struggled and flailed as hard as he could to make it back, up to the light, to the edge, to where something was waiting for him. What is it? What's on the other side, past the edge of the water? His hands pulled him slowly upwards. The color of the water changed to lavender, glowing with anticipation. Closer, upward, nearer, he had never been so far up before. His eyes filled with twinklings of light from beyond the surface, flashes of color and sound filled his head. Almost there, almost...  
And then he was back. Back in the dark calm state of sleep, with no answers to his questions. If you want something bad enough, you find a way of obtaining it, no matter the consequences. Even if you simply fool yourself into believing you truly possess it.

* * *

The next day, Meryl managed to avoid Vash until almost suppertime. That morning she had flown downstairs, grabbed some dry toast, bolted out the door, and spent the day out doing errands in town, terrified that she might run into Vash at every turn she took. Even though Milly had thoroughly apologized for Wolfwood's behavior, Milly being too drunk to remember her own, Meryl still couldn't bring herself to face Vash.  
He probably thinks I'm crazy. She thought as she walked back down the clay sidewalk, laden with shopping bags and groceries. Besides, all we did was exchange a simple hug! I was just comforting him. It's not like we groped or anything... Meryl stopped, lost in the memory of the previous night, remembering how it had felt to press into his bare chest, how his warm skin felt under her touch, and how the slightest brush of his fingers against her own skin had given her the shivers. She was so lost in thought that the bags she was carrying slipped out of her grasp and went sprawling all over the walkway.  
"Oh, crap." Meryl growled, and bent over to pick them up again.  
Suddenly, she stood straight. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled from a strange sensation. Someone's watching me... she thought.  
Meryl glanced quickly in all directions, visually scanning the landscape. There was no one there. She sighed heavily and scooped the fallen bags up into her arms again.  
"Honestly, Meryl," she said out loud, "no wonder you're a bundle of nerves. What did Milly tell you? Don't brood over stuff, it's a waste of time and energy. Geez, you're turning into a real paranoid nutcase!"  
When Meryl walked through the back door into the kitchen, she saw Milly sitting down with a cup of coffee and the local paper. Well, that's an odd sight. But I'm glad she's here, she thought, I need a little girl talk right now.  
When Milly saw her, she tossed her paper aside and sprang up from her seat, giving Meryl a crushing bear hug.  
"Meryl!" She sparkled, "I'm so glad you're home. I was getting worried about you; you were gone for a long time. I was about to ask Mr. Vash to go and look for you!"  
Meryl flushed slightly at the mention of Vash, but if Milly noticed she said nothing.  
"Uh..oh, gee, sorry about that Milly. I guess I sort of lost track of the time." Meryl quickly changed the subject. "Hey, I picked up lots of your favorite foods at the General today! They even had a sale on chocolate pudding, so I got twice as many as usual."  
"Really!!" Milly chirped.  
"Yeah." Meryl laughed as Milly pounced on the bags.  
Both girls set to work sorting out Meryl's purchases and storing everything away. Then they tidied up the kitchen, talking and laughing the entire time. Meryl felt her tension and nervousness melt away as she joked and giggled with Milly. Gradually, she felt she had the confidence to confide in her best friend.  
"Milly," she began carefully, "can I...uh...talk to you about something?"  
"Well, sure Meryl," Milly sang, "You can always talk to me about anything, I won't snitch on you!" She said giving her a wink.  
Meryl sat down at the table, hands folded, wondering where to begin. But before she had a chance to say anything...  
"It's about Mr. Vash, isn't it?" Milly asked seriously. Meryl's head shot up, her mouth hanging open.  
"Ummm...uh...y-yeah..." she choked out. "Uh...geez, is it that obvious."  
"Oh, Meryl, you don't have to tell me, I know how much you care about him." Milly smiled warmly at her friend. "Have you told him yet?" She asked.  
Meryl looked down at her folded hands and chewed on her lower lip. "I think I almost told him last night..." she said quietly.  
"That's great!" Milly cheered, "It's just like my big big sister always said; Never hold back in matters of the heart!"  
"But, Milly..." Meryl said sadly, "I...I don't think I can tell him. I just don't think he..I mean...what I mean to say is...well, what if he doesn't feel the same way? It could ruin our friendship; everything we have here would be in jeopardy. I can't tell him until I know for sure. Until that time, I just want to show him I care about him, that I'm here for him, that's all. Oh, Milly, you should have seen him. He's been so sad lately, I can't stand seeing him so upset." Meryl trailed off, folding her arms on the table and resting her chin on them.  
"Gee, Meryl, I still think you should just tell him, but I suppose that's up to you." Milly said carefully. "But, if you want to show Mr. Vash you care about him, I guess the best way would be to do something nice for him. Something special!"  
"Like a favor?" Meryl questioned.  
"Sure!" Milly sang, "Or you could fix him something special to eat, like pudding a la mode, or pudding cake, or maybe..."  
"Wait a second, Milly," Meryl interrupted, quirking an eyebrow at her, "Those sound suspiciously like your favorite desserts."  
"Nuts, I thought I had you for sure that time!" Milly grinned sheepishly.  
Meryl threw her head back and laughed. What would I do without you, Milly? She thought.

* * *

Louis threw his black mask and pistols to the side and he slumped his fat frame next to the huge boulder, panting for air. "Found a way in." He choked out.  
"Did you get a good look inside there, boss?" Tony piped up, standing on his toes to get a look at the small house in the distance. "Are they in there?"  
"Yeah, they're in there alright." Louis muttered, "I got a look in through the upstairs window, it was dark, but it looked like they got some kind of invalid up there, didn't move or nothin'. He won't be a problem." He picked up his gun and stroked it manically.  
"Uh, so when do we move in, boss?" Sean questioned, scratching his thick skull.  
"Tonight. We snatch his bitch tonight. That'll trap him good." Louis grinned evilly, "All those jobs we've been pulling in town have paid off, and after tonight, everyone in these parts is gonna know the name of the invincible Locos Gang!"  
Sean and Tony looked at each other again nervously. Both men shrugged.

* * *

Meryl knew she couldn't avoid him forever. It was inevitable; after all, they lived in the same house. So she took extra time carefully fixing her hair and dress before going downstairs for dinner that night.  
Her heart was beating so loudly as she walked along the upstairs hallway, she almost didn't hear the noise. It was a soft shuffling sound, like someone was moving around. She stopped and glanced to the door on her right. It was coming from Knives' room.  
Someone's in there... was her first thought. Oh, don't be silly, Meryl, it's just a noise. Open the door and see for yourself! Said her rational side.  
Meryl held her breath as she slowly turned the handle and opened the door. It was completely dark and still, except for the gentle breeze that came in from the open window. Knives lay motionless on the bed, breathing slowly and deeply. Meryl looked around. The room was undisturbed. Why does this room have to be so spooky? She thought nervously as she walked quietly over the window to shut it.  
Something brushed her leg, and she jumped back with a squeak, her hands instinctively reached for the derringers under her jacket only to grab air. Crap! I left my jacket in my room! She screamed in her head, and opened her eyes, terrified at what fresh terror had been set loose on her now.  
Sitting on the bed, looking at her with amused green eyes was a small black cat, which meowed and jumped out the open window. Meryl gazed stupidly for a second, then banged her head against the window frame, Stupid, stupid, stupid... you got all worked up over a cat, way to go, Meryl! Ughhh! You paranoid freak. Today in town and now here! It's all because you're scared to go downstairs, just get your butt in gear and get it over with! Everyone's probably already down there.  
She hurriedly close the window and shut the door without a second look behind her.  
Sure enough, when she got close to the kitchen she could hear their voices from the hallway.  
"...so this guy takes a swing at me, I don't know why he's so worked up, I only complemented his girlfriend..."  
"That's because you catcalled her before you complemented her, you numbskull!"  
"So? She was pretty! I can't help that."  
"You stupid needle noggin..."  
"Who are you calling stupid? Besides, you're supposed to be a man of the church, for real this time!"  
"Don't blame me, donut boy, honesty is part of the job description."  
"Yeah, well as long as we're being honest..."  
"Watch it blondie!"  
Meryl listened to Vash and Wolfwood argue from behind the doorway.  
Geez, those two never give it a rest? She thought, smiling to herself. Well, I guess I have to go in sooner or later...  
When she stepped into the kitchen she found the two gunfighters sprawled out on the floor. Wolfwood had Vash in a headlock and was trying to get him to give in. Vash's arms and legs stuck out at weird angles as they flailed around making him look like an octopus in a strangle hold. Milly was sitting cheerfully at the table, reading the local paper again, as if nothing was out of the ordinary. She looked up when Meryl came in and smiled brightly.  
"Oh, hi Meryl, you're just in time for supper!" She chirped.  
"Supper!" Both men jumped up and instantly sprang back to their seats.  
"Gee, thanks Milly," Meryl said, her heart fluttering already, and she hadn't even looked directly at him yet, "Do you..uh...need any help?"  
"Oh no, I've got it covered. You just sit down and keep those boys from fighting again or they won't get any dessert!" Milly said, shaking a finger in the "boys" direction. Both of them grinned sheepishly up at her and gave a salute.  
"We'll be good!" They said in unison.  
Meryl was self conscious of her every step as she walked over to the table and sat down. She quickly grabbed Milly's paper and hid her face behind it, pretending to read.  
Wolfwood glanced back and forth between Vash and Meryl, sizing up the situation. Vash looked slightly confused. Nicholas raised an eyebrow and smirked slightly. Then he reached over and squished Meryl's paper down on the table, wrecking her little shield. Meryl scowled at Wolfwood and smacked his hand away.  
"What's the big idea, Wolfwood? I was reading that!" She scolded.  
Nicholas leaned back in his chair and grinned, "Hey, now you sound more like yourself! Good, I'm relieved, we were getting pretty worried. The big girl over there was ready to send out a search party for you."  
"I just did a few measly errands!" Meryl said in a peeved voice, "From the way you all talk you'd think I had jumped ship for the second moon!"  
"We were just worried about you, that's all." Vash interjected.  
Without thinking, Meryl looked right at him when he spoke.  
Bad move, Meryl, she thought when her heart dropped right into her stomach. Vash looked like he hadn't slept all night. There were dark circles under his eyes and the dark stubble on his face stood out against his pale skin. Still, his eyes sparkled with a warm glow and his smile was a genuine one.  
Meryl found just enough voice in her to say, "S...sorry."  
"Hey, don't sweat it small fry," Wolfwood leaned back in his chair and pulled out a wrinkled cigarette, striking a match on the sole of his shoe. "We wouldn't be worried about you going off on you're own if it weren't for the Locos Gang."  
"The what?" Meryl tore her gaze away from Vash to cast Wolfwood a puzzled look.  
Nicholas was just about to answer her when Milly came up behind him and gently snatched the cigarette out of his mouth, crushing it into the kitchen sink. "The Locos Gang is a local band of thugs that have been stirring up trouble in the town lately." She said simply as she set the food down on the table.  
"Milly!" Wolfwood whined, "That was my last one! Man, this quitting thing is rougher than I thought it would be." He said, collapsing on the table.  
Milly put her arms around him from behind as she said merrily, "I know it is dear, but aren't you glad the people who love you care enough about you to help so you won't have to do it on your own?" She placed a small kiss on his cheek.  
Nicholas sighed, "What would I do without you, big girl?" And he kissed her hand tenderly. Meryl couldn't help smiling at the two of them in that sweet moment. They were perfect together, she thought.  
  
When she happened to glance in Vash's direction, she saw he was looking at her with an expression somewhere between happiness and sadness. Her heart started zigg-zagging around in her chest and she had to bite her lower lip to calm herself down.  
"So," she said, looking down and breaking the silence, "What's the deal with this Locos Gang, anyway?"  
"Gosh, Meryl," Milly said, standing up, "Haven't you been reading the paper? It's been on the front page every day for a week now."  
Meryl looked down at the crumpled paper in her hands. So, this was why Milly had been reading the paper so much. She remembered the feeling of being watched earlier that day and shivered. "I guess I really hadn't noticed." Meryl said stupidly.  
"It's just a band of local idiots causing problems," Nicholas growled, "I've tried to get this spiky headed moron to help me take them down, but he's been too busy lately."  
Meryl looked at Vash. He really did look worn out. She had to ask him.  
"Is it Knives, Vash?" She ventured, "Did you stay up all night with him again?"  
"Yeah," Vash said smiling wearily. "I thought if I stayed up with him it might help to get him to wake up sooner."  
"Vash, you'll wear yourself out like that." Milly said with concern.  
"But, if it helps, it'll be worth it in the end." Vash said, "Trust me on this."  
Meryl suddenly remembered what Milly had said earlier. 'If you want to show Mr. Vash you care about him, I guess the best way would be to do something nice for him. Something special.'  
Something special... she thought.  
Wolfwood was arguing with Vash again, "At least come out to the bar with us tonight. You need some time off, you look like three day old shit."  
"Sorry, I just can't." Vash replied sadly, "Besides, if I don't stay with him, who will?"  
"I will." Meryl said simply.  
Three pairs of eyes turned and stared at her.  
"Meryl..." Vash began, but she cut him off.  
"Sorry Vash, but you are going to the bar tonight. I will stay up with Knives. You are going to have a great time, and then you are going to come back and get a good night's rest, end of discussion." Meryl gave him a sly look, "And if you have a problem with that you'll just have to fight me for it."  
Vash gave her an astonished look.  
"Only one way to argue with a woman, Vash," Nicholas said, "Don't."  
  
**Next Time on Edge: Chapter 5 Having and Executing **


	5. Having and Executing

CHAPTER 5: HAVING AND EXECUTING  
  
Meryl waved to her three companions as they set off toward the town. After much convincing, Vash had finally agreed to let Meryl look after Knives for the one night. He had taken her aside as Wolfwood was helping Milly clean up in the kitchen.  
"You know, you don't have to do this." He said quietly.  
"But I want to do this, Vash. Consider it a payback for all the times you saved me over the past year. And you need a break. Besides, if you drop dead from exhaustion, who's going to care for your brother then?" She said teasingly.  
"I don't need sleep to survive. You do." He said flatly, holding her gaze steadily. Meryl held her breath. It was the first time he had referred to the fact that he wasn't a human being since that time in Tonom.  
"I'll be fine." Meryl forced herself to say with conviction. "Honestly, it's only for one night. Trust me."  
Vash studied her face with a worried look, and then he sighed and shook his head. "I suppose I'm fighting a losing battle here." He gave a capitulating smile, "So, I guess you win. Just...just be careful, alright?"  
"Yes, sir. I'll hold down the fort!" She said jokingly, giving him her own salute. But she gasped audibly when she saw Vash moving forward, arms open.  
Oh, god, he's gonna touch me again! Her mind screamed, as he folded her into a gentle hug. His arms pressed her into his body. Meryl felt like a marching band was playing Stars and Stripes in her chest and she feared Vash would feel the bass drum beats of her heart. But he only rested his head on top of hers and sighed deeply, bringing a hand up to guide her head so it was soon leaning on his own chest. She tensed, wide-eyed.  
Relax.  
Meryl heard a deep voice in the back of her mind say, and not knowing why, she released herself from the tension and molded her small frame into Vash's soft hold. She closed her eyes and pressed her cheek against the crisp linen of his white shirt, deeply breathing in his fresh clean scent.  
  
"I guess I forgot to say, thank you." He said, causing rumbling vibrations in Meryl's ear.  
She was so lost in the electric feel of his voice and embrace that all she could do was nod her head in return. Typhoon Jacquelyn could have been raging all around them and she wouldn't have noticed at all.  
"Meryl..." Vash whispered, pulling back slightly and holding her gaze with a serious expression, "You know that you...you...are..." he trailed off, and she saw in his eyes that he was fighting a mental battle. He gave up.  
"Just take care of yourself...promise?" He sighed, giving her a gentle squeeze before he released her, smiling once more and turned toward the town.  
Meryl stood looking after him, dazed and cold due to the absence of his hold.  
What, Vash... she thought as she watched him walk away, what were you going to say? What am I to you?  
In the darkness, three sets of eyes watched the others depart, and they slowly began to close in.  
  
Wolfwood and Vash both sat at the bar of The Rusty Trigger. They had both thrown back a few and were talking and laughing like old times. Rickman was behind the counter as usual and the place was packed with local townspeople having a great time.  
"Haven't seen you two around much anymore," Rickman smiled as he poured them what must have been drink number ten, "Where are the girls?" He asked.  
"Ah, the girls..." Vash sang holding up his mug in a toast; he already had a tie around his head.  
"The small one decided to stay in tonight, and the big girl is was going to visit an injured co-worker before she joined us here." Wolfwood answered, knocking the plastered outlaw on the head.  
"Hey!" Vash cried rubbing the lump on his head, "What's the big idea?"  
"You, Needle Noggin, are getting all dreamy eyed again," Nicholas laughed loudly and roughed up Vash's hair so it fell over his face. "Woman are a marvel, but you should see the sappy look you get every time I mention them."  
"Cut it out!" Vash whimpered, carefully molding his hair up again.  
"Seems you're getting awfully touchy feely lately, Mr. Outlaw." Wolfwood smirked, glancing at Vash from the narrow corners of his eyes. "You're not after Milly, 'cause you know I'd have to kick your skinny butt. So, care to let me in on it?"  
"Hey, hey," Vash flashed a goofy grin and put his hands up in mock surrender, "It's not like that, honest."  
Wolfwood narrowed his gaze and chuckled, "I don't know who you think you're fooling, me or yourself."  
"I'm not trying to fool anyone," Vash said lamely quickly changing the subject, "Besides, we're here to have fun, right? Ah! There's a couple of cute girls over there," he spun around in his chair and pointed with his drink in his hand, "Wanna bet I can get to second with one of them before midnight?"  
"Sorry buddy, but I don't think either of them would give you the time of day." Nicholas laughed.  
"All right! You're on!" Vash flashed a winning smile.  
"I know one girl," Wolfwood said smirking into his drink, "who'd give you the time of day every hour on the hour."  
"Which one of those girls is hotter, do you think?" Vash asked as if he hadn't heard Nicholas.  
"She's a good girl, and she's quite a looker when you get past the bitchiness."  
"Maybe I should turn on my famous charm?"  
"Plus, she's loyal,"  
"Or play the tall silent type,"  
"A good cook,"  
"Maybe they're into sensitive guys,"  
"And for some stupid reason, she's hopelessly devoted to you."  
"I know," Vash snapped his fingers, "I should pretend to be shot! Girls love taking care of a wounded guy! Now, where's the ketchup?"  
Wolfwood grabbed Vash by the arm and slammed his own drink down on the counter.  
"You know, I don't get you." He hissed, "You throw yourself in front of every hot chick that won't have anything to do with you, and when a nice attractive girl who actually seems interested in you comes along, you haven't got the guts to do anything about it!" There was a high popping sound. Nicholas glanced over at Vash. "Huh...?"  
Vash hadn't moved, but his eyes were shut, and his glass had a long crack running up and down from where his hand had gripped it. His face became a stone mask as he slowly turned around toward the bar, leaning on it and staring into his leaking glass, his earlier jovality instantly deflated. Wolfwood gave him a puzzled look.  
"You ok there, Vash?" He asked hesitantly. For a few minutes, Vash didn't answer, and then...  
"I can't." Vash spoke quietly.  
"What?" Nicholas frowned.  
"I can't." He said again, looking up at Wolfwood. "I just can't."  
Wolfwood found he couldn't reply, so they both sat in silence for several more minutes. Finally, Nicholas turned to face the famous gunslinger.  
"You know," he said calmly, "when I almost died, I realized something. Life is too short to wait. You either are a part of the show, or you just don't play at all. When life gives you something, you don't wait. Because, you're a fool if you think it will be there forever."  
Nicholas finished, draining the last bit from his glass and turning to leave the bar. "I'm gonna go find Milly." He said as he walked away.  
Vash didn't move, but continued to stare into his drink long after Wolfwood had left.  
  
The staircase creaked and groaned as Meryl carried the tray of soup and bread upstairs with her toward Knives' room. Her mind still reeled with the happenings of the afternoon and she had been agonizing over Vash's last words to her. Why was he looking at me like that? What am I? What was he going to say? Uughh, I give up, that stupid broom-head is impossible! She thought as she propped the tray up against the wall and opened the door to the bedroom.  
The room was just like she had left it earlier. Dark and silent. She could hear Knives' steady breathing as she walked over to his bedside and set the tray down on the end table. She pulled up an empty chair and sat down heavily by the bed. Her foot hit something metal underneath the bed and she winced, rubbing her toe. Milly, I told you not to store your old stun gun up here. She thought. But, instead of leaving right away, she studied Knives' face as he slept.  
He looks so much like Vash, but..." her hands clutched the bedspread as she remembered the kiss she stole. I know it's not Vash, but...but then why do I feel like I want to do it again? Meryl blushed at her own realization.  
She reached out tentatively and touched the top of Knives' limp hand, brushing her fingers down along his. Meryl's eyes fixed themselves on his partially open mouth.  
Vash's voice flashed through her brain, Meryl, you know you...you...are...  
She snapped out of her trance and shook her head to clear it, feeling guilty all over again.  
"Wake up, Meryl." She said out loud. "You are here because you're doing something special for Vash, so get moving. What does Vash do when he's with his brother? Hmmm. Ok, he usually tries to get him to eat and then talks to him about his day." She said, having peeked in on Vash many times while he was tending to Knives. She set to work with the soup, which mostly dribbled down the front of Knives shirt until she tucked a cloth under his chin. After a while, she gave up on the soup and just started talking to Knives about her day. It was a little weird at first, talking to someone who never responded, but after a quarter of an hour she grew more comfortable with it and was talking freely.  
Meryl was so engrossed as she told Knives about the rising price of water and it's economic effects on the industry, that she didn't hear the noise in the hallway until it was too late.  
She had just enough time to throw herself behind the bed as the door flew open, and light poured into the room. The Locos Gang stood grinning wickedly at her.  
"All right! We've got her boys!" Louis shouted, "Sean, you grab her and let's get out of here. We'll get that fuckin' outlaw this time."  
"Not so fast, mister!" Meryl whipped around brandishing two shinning derringers in her hands. She had made sure to wear her jacket this time. "Make one wrong move and it'll be your last!" She said calmly, although her hands shook slightly as she aimed. This must be that Locos Gang from the paper. she thought. Vash, where are you?  
Louis took one look at Meryl's guns and burst out laughing. "What are those suppose to be, little girl? You tryin' to pick flies off my head? You better come along nice and quiet, or you might get hurt, and I don't like damaged goods."  
A gunshot rang out.  
Half of Louis' moustache twitched. The other half floated down to the floor in a smoking pile. He raised a shocked hand to his mangled moustache as the two other gang members hid behind their boss.  
"I don't' think so, you monkey-faced bucket of lard," Meryl spat, "Now get the hell out of here, unless you want me to even out that face for you."  
Louis shook with anger. "You little bitch! Don't think I scare that easily. The Locos Gang always comes prepared! Sean, Tony! Do it!" He yelled.  
Both men pulled out large shotguns from under their coats, while Louis ducked behind and yanked a cord from the wall out with his knife. Meryl froze, "Oh no, that was the electric..."  
There was a flash, and the whole house went pitch black as Meryl aimed wildly with her pistols. "Vash, where are you? Help me!" She yelled.  
A strong hand clamped over her outstretched wrist. Meryl looked down and gasped. "Vash...!"  
  
Vash leapt up from his stool at the bar, eyes wide and blazing.  
What was that? He thought, It felt like... he put a shaking hand to his head. "Oh...no...!" His eyes went wide and his hand shook as he reached over to grip the counter of the bar.  
Rickman came over, giving Vash a concerned look, "You alright there?" He asked.  
But Vash was already halfway to the door, gun drawn and a steely expression carved on his face. Just as he reached the swinging doors, Wolfwood and Milly came in arm and arm, laughing at something Milly had said. Vash stopped short and looked at them with panic written on his face.  
"We've got to go back to the house, right now!" He shouted.  
Wolfwood and Milly both looked at him with surprise, though Milly was the first to speak up.  
"Why, Mr. Vash, what's wrong?" She leaned in and looked into his eyes.  
Vash only clenched his teeth together and tightened his grip on his revolver.  
"What's the rush, Vash, I thought you were about to make your move over there?" Nicholas questioned sarcastically. "Hey, what's with you?" He said as Vash pushed past them and ran out into the street.  
"Oh no, Mr. Vash! It's Meryl, isn't it?" Milly gasped.  
Wolfwood turned to stare at her, "What makes you think that, Hon?"  
Milly leaned over and whispered in his ear, "It's in his eyes, dear."  
Vash was in the middle of the street, gun drawn, eyes darted around warily. "Come on you two! Wolfwood get your pistols, Milly get your stun gun, we haven't got much time. Let's go!" He yelled as he took off like a shot toward the house.  
"Right." Milly said grinning, "I'm glad I carry this with me at all times." She swung her stun gun out from under her coat and up onto her shoulder.  
"What! Where've you been hiding that?" Wolfwood shouted as he ran to catch up with the others.  
  
The house was dark when Vash, Milly and Wolfwood burst in through the front door. Vash was the first to see the broken glass and shattered pieces of debris that littered the front room and hallway. Other than the fluttering of the torn curtains in the window, nothing moved. It was dead silent.  
"What the..." Wolfwood muttered as his eyes adjusted to the darkness, "Who's responsible for this?"  
"Oh no!" Milly gasped, "Meryl!"  
Vash was up the stairs in a flash, flinging open each door as he past. Meryl...Knives...please be there...please... his mind raced. Milly and Wolfwood sped after him, checking the closets and passageways, calling Meryl's name as they went. There was no response.  
"She's not here!" Nicholas shouted angrily. Getting no response he ran toward the blonde gunman, "Hey, Vash! I said she's not here. We gotta go look for her! What are you...uh...hey...w-what is it...what's wrong..."  
Vash was standing frozen in front of the only open door on the second floor. His wide eyes stared in shock, and his breath was harsh and ragged. The door had been blown off its hinges and sharp shards of shrapnel and bullet holes were imbedded in the opposite wall and doorframe. On the dusty floor, tiny streams of red ran and pooled around Vash's boots. His mouth opened in a mute cry.  
Wolfwood exhaled slowly, "What happened here...?" His voice shook.  
Milly ran up behind Nicholas and covered her mouth with her hand, "Oh! Mr. Vash...is...is it..."  
Iron faced, Vash stepped through the doorway and into the room. Gun smoke still hung heavy in the air. On the floor, arms splayed out at grotesque angles, lay the bodies of two men. One had been tall, with red hair, and the other had been short and squat, with half his moustache missing. Both men's faces were contorted with terror, and their bodies were shot so full of holes that every inch of them was covered in bits of blood and gore. The room was splattered red and every scrap of furniture and hangings had been blasted apart.  
"Who are these guys?" Wolfwood mused.  
Wolfwood and Milly stared ashen faced at the slaughter. Milly stared frantically around the room.  
"She's not here." She breathed in relief. "Then where...where is she?"  
Wolfwood took a cautious step toward Vash, whose gaze remained locked on the pile of splintered fragments that had been the only bed in the room. "Vash..." he whispered warily.  
"He's gone." Vash breathed. "They're both gone."  
"You mean...that Knives...he..." Wolfwood started.  
But before he could finish his thought Vash spun around, his teeth clenched and eyes glowed with a dangerous light.  
"GET DOWN!!" He screamed.  
Vash knocked the two of them over and out through the door just as the entire room exploded in a blinding flash, from the bomb that had been hidden underneath the bodies of the two dead men.  
  
Next Time on Edge: Chapter 6 Commanding and Torn 


	6. Commanding and Torn

CHAPTER 6: COMMANDING AND TORN  
  
At first there was nothing. Then a soft haze began to spread out from the corners of his mind. Vash squinted his eyes and peered through the dim light. His foggy brain centered on a curved shape, which was moving towards him. It was a woman..  
"R-Rem..."  
The woman moved forward. Her face slid slowly into the light.  
Eyes. Her eyes were so sad.  
"Rem?" He leaned foreword anxiously, reaching out for her.  
Suddenly, everything froze. Her couldn't move or speak. Rem set her large sad eyes on him once more before she threw her head back and let out a heart-wrenching scream. Vash watched in mute horror as her body burst into flame and she writhed and twisted in agony in front of him. He tried to shut his eyes, but found something forced him to watch. Rem's body jerked and cracked as her flesh and began to fall away bit by bit.  
"No..." he chocked out at last, "NO!!" Suddenly his body was free and he fell forward into the ground. He crawled over to the charred form on the floor, shaking with shock and tears. He turned her over and looked at her face.  
It wasn't Rem.  
"M-Meryl..." Vash gasped, as his heart turned to ice.  
Then everything went black, and he felt himself falling through space. At every angle he heard the screams and tortured cries of the woman in his arms reverberate back at him until he had to cover his own ears to block out the sound.  
"Stop it, stop it, stop it, STOP!!!" He screamed over the horrible din.  
The noise abruptly ceased and Vash slowly uncovered his ears, his eyes darting back and forth. In the back of his mind, he heard the quiet chuckling of a very familiar voice. The laughter began to build until it reached a hysterical pitch. Vash gritted his teeth and clenched his hands.  
"Knives..." he hissed, "Why..."  
  
The sky in the east was turning a cold pale color of gray as the dawn crept up over the dull sand dunes. A bitter wind bit into Meryl's face and hands as she clung to the reins of the Thomas in front of her. Knives sat behind her, as still as death. He didn't speak, but she could feel his presence and the weight of his body in the saddle behind her. The only sounds were his random hisses of pain when the thomas hit a dip or ridge. He still isn't close to being fully healed. Her tense body jerked with each step of the animal under her and her teeth chattered from both the cold and her fear.  
How do I get myself into situations like this? She thought frantically. Damn it, what am I suppose to do, how I'm I going to survive this?  
From out across the desolate sands, Meryl could almost hear Vash's voice calling out to her. Meryl...please...where are you...answer me! Was her mind playing tricks on her? Wishful thinking?  
Meryl's brain instinctively sent out a mental cry of help, Vash... I'm here...Vash...help...I'm right here... There was a sudden pressure on her right shoulder as a hand clamped her from behind.  
"Don't." Knives' harsh voice warned her.  
His hand stayed for a moment, firm on her shoulder and making her whole arm hot. Meryl couldn't help but shiver from his touch before he released her. As her shock wore off, she was becoming hypersensitive to every bump and brush of his body. But even though she knew she should be terrified, Knives' simple action made her feel more angry than scared, like the time she had stood in front of the crazy mob who had wanted to kill Vash. Meryl felt her temper flare. She wanted to turn around and give Knives a big piece of her mind. How dare he treat her like this, after all she had tried to do for him and for Vash? She'd show him who he was dealing with, that freaking loony psychopath.  
But then Meryl's brain did a flashback and her rational side kicked in. She may be fiery, but she wasn't stupid.  
  
The three members of the Locos Gang had stood there, shotguns aimed and ready. The large man with the moustache had cut the lights and she had aimed her derringers and prayed. Then she felt a hand clamp over her wrist and she gasped when she saw Knives sitting up in bed looking at her with fire in his eyes.  
Her pistols fell to the floor and everything became slow motion.  
The gang fired their guns. Meryl shut her eyes and waited for the bullets to rip through her body.  
But nothing came. More fire. She opened her eyes. Knives still held her wrist in an iron grasp, but his other hand was stretched out towards the three men. They were all pointing their guns at each other. Meryl saw the terror in their eyes as they cried out to their companions to stop. Knives squeezed her wrist painfully tight as the men opened fire, gunning each other down at close range. The blood exploded in the room as bullets pounded into walls, doors, and flesh.  
After that, Meryl was in a daze. Knives had gathered some bags from underneath his bed and then gone downstairs, dragging her along with him. One of the men groaned as they passed by and Meryl knew he was still alive, but she couldn't help him. Knives gave her a few simple orders.  
"Get the thomas from the stable and the canteens from the shed. I know you wouldn't do anything stupid."  
Meryl complied, finding the thomas already saddled and packed, and the canteens already brimming with water. What's going on? She thought in a stupor, What am I doing?  
She led the thomas over to where Knives was looking out towards the town.  
"Get on." He rasped gruffly. Meryl did as he said, somehow unable to resist, she climbed up to the back seat.  
"In front." Knives commanded sternly.  
"I..." she choked, finding her voice, "I don't know where you want to go."  
"The beast knows." He growled. "Move."  
Meryl obeyed mutely while Knives climbed up behind her. She heard him suck in his breath and grunt with pain as he pulled himself up and was about to look when she felt Knives' hand on the back of her head. Her mind froze with fear for an instant.  
"Keep your eyes that way," he whispered through clenched teeth, "if you want to live."  
Meryl forced her eyes towards the black horizon as the thomas began its speedy canter.  
Neither of them looked back.  
  
Vash's eyes flew open as his lungs sucked in the hot dusty air. Around him were piles of wood, ash and plaster debris. He tried to move but found he couldn't. His arms and legs were pinned. Then he remembered, the feeling, running back to the house, finding the bodies, no Meryl, no Knives...then the explosion. His mind raced with one thought.  
Knives. Knives had done this. And he had Meryl.  
Something shifted above him and light arched down on him from above.  
"Mr. Vash? Are you down there?" Milly's voice called from above.  
"Yeah!" Vash grunted, "But I'm pinned!"  
"Hold still, Needle Noggin," Wolfwood's voice yelled down at him. "Do it, Big Girl."  
There were two loud thumps as Milly fired her stun gun, knocking the heavy beams from Vash's arms and legs. He jumped up immediately and climbed up the timbers to the open hole of light, where Nicholas reached out and gave him a hand up. Vash took in what was left of their house. The second floor had been pretty much blasted away from the explosion, and the first floor was filled with debris and rubble. Luckily, all three companions seemed unscathed save a few minor cuts and bruises.  
"Thanks for back there, buddy, I really owe you one," Wolfwood clapped Vash on the back as he pulled a cigarette out of his pocket.  
"Yes, Mr. Vash, if you hadn't knocked both of us out the way of that blast we would have been goners for sure." Milly added brightly, snatching the cigarette out of Wolfwood's mouth just as he proceeded to light it up.  
"This is no time for congratulations." Vash said flatly. "They're both gone. We've got to go after them. They haven't' had much time to get very far, so we've got to get moving right now."  
"Hold it, Vash," Wolfwood grabbed him by the arm as he passed by, "I don't get it. Knives was out cold, dead to the world. How could he have walked out of here in his condition, much less done any of this? How do we know someone else didn't snatch both Meryl and Knives?"  
"I know." Vash said coldly. "Knives did this. I can sense it. Back there, those men. He...he enjoyed it...and Meryl..." he swallowed hard, "Meryl...she's...still alive, I know she's still alive! So, we've gotta move, now!"  
The three of them picked their way down through the rubble, gathering some supplies together as they went. When they had everything together they scanned the darkened landscape, trying to locate the direction Knives and Meryl had gone.  
Please, Vash tried to reach out to her mentally as he had done earlier that evening, Please be alright...Meryl...please...please hear me...Meryl...answer me...Meryl...I...I need you.  
"I found something," Milly yelled, pointing to a scrap of white clothing that had been caught on a jutting rock just south of the house. Vash sprinted over to her.  
"One of the thomases is missing," Wolfwood panted.  
"Oh, and several canteens were missing from the shed," Milly added thoughtfully.  
"Do you mean to say," Nicholas said in a shocked voice, "That this little escape was planned?"  
Milly watched Vash sadly out of the corner of her eye, "It certainly seems that way."  
"But...but how is that possible?" Wolfwood shouted, "Knives has been asleep this entire time How could he have planed anything?"  
"Because, he wasn't asleep." Vash said in a harsh whisper. "Maybe I should have killed him when I had the chance." Milly and Wolfwood both looked at him with open mouths. Nicholas began to say something, but Vash's head suddenly snapped up, his eyes blazed with a fierce blue light as he yelled.  
"WATCH OUT!!"  
Several shots rang out from a large outcropping of rocks. Vash dove, taking Milly with him and firing three shots from his gun arm in the direction of the sound. Wolfwood grunted in pain and slumped over on his side as Milly screamed.  
  
Up on the hillside, Sean rolled over on his back, smoke rose from his discharged pistol. He was covered in blood, from himself and Louis and Tony. His hand shock violently as he reloaded his weapon.  
"D-damn ddemon of m-man," he stammered, "h-he has to d-die." No one could have done those things, the things he had seen, no human being could have done it. He must be the Diablo. He must die."  
Sean raised himself up and pointed his gun at the three tiny forms in the distance. Ah, he already got one. Good, that will make it easier to get the others. He centered his aim on Vash the Stampede again. This time he wouldn't miss.  
Stop.  
A deep harsh voice echoed in his head. Sean shook himself to clear his brain and aimed again.  
I said, STOP!  
The voice commanded loudly. Sean grunted from the pain in his head. He felt like his brain was being pulled in two. Mustering all his effort, he fought to raise his pistol once more, aiming directly at the blonde gunman's head.  
YOU PRIMITIVE MONKEY! STOP IT NOW!  
The voice shattered his head, exploding Sean's brain out over the sand and rocks of the hillside.  
Out across the shifting sands, already dozens of iles away, Knives sat on the back of the thomas, facing back towards the house. A cruel smile cut his face and he chuckled lightly to himself. "I asked you nicely...piece of garbage." He muttered.  
In front of him on the thomas, Meryl clutched the reins as tightly as she could bear as she frantically prayed under her breath, Vash...Vash...where are you...help me...  
  
Milly and Vash had brought Wolfwood into the shed and laid him on a small cot. He was bleeding badly from the bullets in his chest and side. Milly was nearly hysterical with worry as she held his hand and Vash bandaged the wounds.  
"He'll be fine," Vash said with a sigh of relief, "but he shouldn't be moved for a few days."  
"But, Mr. Vash," Milly sniffed, "what about Meryl? We can't just leave her! And...and your brother."  
Vash stood and pulled on a heavy long black coat that lay next to the cot. He had bought it some time ago to replace the old red jacket he used to wear. A deep frown marked face as he slid on his odd yellow sunglasses, and loaded his twin pistols.  
"You stay here and take care of him," he told Milly.  
Wolfwood grunted as he turned to look at Vash, "Ungh...be careful needle noggin...don't...umph...don't let your heart cloud your judgment..you...you might not be able to save them both.  
"Don't worry," Vash answered with a grim smile, "I'll bring her back."  
He cocked one pistol and stared at it ominously, "I'll bring them both back."  
  
The hot sun beat mercilessly down on the two lone travelers in the middle of the blinding white desert sands. Even the thomas was panting for breath and laboring with each step.  
Meryl had lost count of how many iles they had traveled a long time ago, and Knives had not spoken since they left the house the night before. She could still feel his presence behind her in the saddle and she wondered what was going to happen to her now? Why did he force her to come with him? Why didn't she fight him more? What was he going to do with her? He killed without hesitation...why did he let her live? Was Vash all right? Was he trying to find her?  
"Meryl, you know you...you are..."  
What am I to you, Vash? Are you going to come after me, or your brother? She sighed and large tears rolled down her cheeks as she tried to focus her eyes on the distant horizon. Even though she wasn't leading the animal, Knives had told her to keep her eyes open for signs of a large structure.  
Dumb jerk could have been a little more specific, she frowned and sniffed. Knives' silence was getting eerie. What's he doing back there anyway, he's been too quiet. She craned her neck to get a peak at her kidnapper.  
Knives was doubled over in his saddle, clutching his stomach, face buried in his arms. Meryl could hear his shallow breathing now, and her eyes widened when she noticed the fresh blood that soaked through his bandages. His wounds reopened! The ride on the thomas is killing him! She thought.  
His eyes snapped open at her, causing her to give a little startled scream. Flames burned through his eyes and he barred his teeth as he growled, "Keep your eyes on the desert."  
But Meryl didn't budge. Her eyes fixed on his mouth. It hadn't moved when he spoke. "What the..." She whispered.  
Knives raised his arm, grunting with anger and pain from his reopened wounds. This time he used his full voice, "I said turn around!" He yelled, and backhanded the right side of her face. Meryl saw stars as she reeled back, clutching the neck of the animal under her.  
Vash...! She pleaded mentally as her tears fell into the thomas's mane.  
"Don't waste your prayers." She heard Knives say. He was speaking with his mind again. "I've been listening to your annoying thoughts for too long and I'm sorry to tell you that your pathetic attempts to contact my brother are fruitless." He humped. "Besides, I'm counting on him to find us all by himself. You, human, are just the worm on my hook. Do what you're told and I'll let you live...for now. I know you and my brother...are...ugh...hnnn..."  
Knives groaned and doubled over in the saddle in pain again. Meryl felt him shift and heard his teeth grind together as he tried to fight for control of his body.  
What should I do? She thought frantically. He wasn't going to kill her, he had practically told her that. She was the worm, er the bait. He won't kill me because he needs me for now. Meryl rubbed her sore cheek as Knives inhaled painfully again. He'll die soon if he doesn't stop. But, what can I do? She bit her lower lip, What would Vash do?  
Vash wouldn't let Knives die.  
Be brave. Meryl steeled herself and turned around again.  
"P-please... s-stop it. You're not healed yet...Knives..." She said cautiously, "Your wounds are..."  
"I said TURN AROUND!" Knives roared, raising his fist again.  
Meryl didn't flinch. She held his gaze with determination on her face. Knives' fist froze in midair and his eyes widened for a moment. He smirked and lowered his arm. "Brainless woman! Don't you know I'm a superior breed? I don't need my hands to kill you."  
A sudden pain shot through Meryl's head. "Ugh!" She clasped her hands to the sides of her head. Her brain felt like to was going to burst and she clenched her teeth. Brave...be brave...Vash would...Vash wouldn't give up...he's just trying to scare me...got to save him...  
Slowly Meryl raised her eyes back up to his face and choked out, "Pl- ease...l-et me h-help you.... Stop it...you'll...die...PLEASE!" She yelled.  
  
Knives frowned. Why is she doing that? Who is she trying to fool? He puzzled.  
He had seen her with Vash over the past two weeks when he snuck out of his room and peeked in through the windows and doors of the old house. It was easy enough. Everyone there thought he was asleep, and as long as he blocked his mental signal from his brother, he wouldn't be caught. Knives had seen the two of them in the kitchen...on the porch...he had seen her disgusting human dreams and his brother's reaction to them. That was how he came up with his plan of snatching Meryl to lure Vash out to the old settlement and plant. He knew Vash would not come out to the wrecked ship otherwise. Too many memories.  
But...why was this woman pretending to be concerned about him? He had kidnapped her, slaughtered in front of her, and was nearly killing her now. And yet, he could plainly see the fear in her eyes, fear for his safety. It...it couldn't be. He was an angel of destruction. No one could care for him...  
"Ridiculous." Knives scoffed, "Pretending to care what happens to me in order to save your own skin. You humans never cease to amaze me with your insolence." Knives grabbed Meryl's wrists and twisted her fully around. The pain increased and Meryl screamed in anguish. "I've been watching you. You and my brother for weeks! Disgusting! Why should I stop! You death is just being postponed a little! You'll die with the rest of the trash!"  
"P-please..." she gasped. "Don't...d-die." Her hand reached up had covered his hand that was grasped around her arm.  
Knives stopped breathing.  
A vision shot through his brain. The feeling of smooth skin brushing past his lips, gentle hands caressing his face, soft breathe on his neck, and the eyes...  
The pain in his wounds came back and he wretched from the sensation.  
The world around him changed until his vision was filled with a soft blue light, like water. The burning pain was coming from her hand, which was clamped down with a force he couldn't fight.  
What.. is she doing? My energy is coming back...at me!  
Knives cried out harshly and pulled away from Meryl, falling back off the saddle of the thomas and onto the hard packed sand. Instantly his vision cleared and the blue disappeared, but the pain remained from the fresh wounds his fall had opened. Blood pooled around his body, as he lay stunned on the ground.  
Suddenly, Meryl found herself free from the pain, gasping in surprise and relief. She quickly slid of the back of the thomas and knelt down by Knives.  
"Leave me...alone, if you want to live." Knives told her weakly when she attempted to prop him up under a blanket.  
"You...you won't live to do anything if you don't let me help you, you asshole." She said in a slightly pissed and breathless voice.  
"Why you insolent..." He started to rise, only to black out, losing consciousness and falling back on the sand.  
Meryl breathed a sigh of relief. Well, at least I can patch him up while he's passed out. She thought as she rummaged through one of the knapsacks for extra bandages. Vash, you better get your butt here pronto, mister. I don't know how long I can do this before I kill the jerk myself.  
  
Blue water swirled around him again, dancing with brilliant glints of light. He felt his body float and sway in the gentle current, and the peaceful calm of the plant chamber.  
But this time was different somehow.  
"The edge." He thought, "This time I'll see past the edge."  
The instant his mind registered the thought; the calm water became a raging whirlpool again, sucking him down into the darkness. Knives fought again to swim to the light. There it was! The change in color, and the purple hint of the sun.  
"There!" He mouthed as his fingers scraped the surface, and for a moment he felt the cool breeze of air move across his outstretched hand beyond the edge. Suddenly, two strong hands wrapped around his ankles and started to pull him back down. Knives breathed in the water around him and his lungs began to burn. Wide eyed, he fought against the hands and his constricted lungs, struggling to reach the light.  
His head throbbed with a sudden burst of electricity.  
"What's going on?" He clutched at his head. "What's this pain?" The soft purple light was disappearing, and he was falling into the darkness. He turned his head to look behind him and to see what was dragging him down.  
All he could do was scream.  
  
Knives jumped up like he was on a spring. The water and the plant were both gone. He was sitting on the sandy ground on a makeshift cot. There was a fire a little distance off which cracked brightly in the pitch black of the desert night.  
It was just a dream. He exhaled slowly. That damned dream. It means something, something more, I know it.  
"You're awake," said a voice, "finally."  
Knives started in spite of himself, still skittish from his nightmare. Meryl sat behind him, her back to a small boulder. "I was hoping you would wake up soon." She said calmly, "Supper's ready."  
"Tch..." Knives spat. Snatching up the blanket, he thrust it roughly into a knapsack. "I already told you I'm letting you live...for now. You're egotistical human attempt at bribery is sickening."  
Meryl bristled with anger in spite of her better judgment. "Fine!" She fumed, "I was just trying to be nice."  
"Nice?" He scoffed, "In spite of the fact that I kidnapped you, slaughtered some human garbage in front of you, and nearly killed you and your friends? Illogical human. You say you're just trying to be nice?" Knives sneered. "I stopped being that naive a long time ago. Why would you be so "nice" to me?"  
The fire cracked in the silence that followed as Meryl shifted uncomfortably. She remembered being nervous that Knives would kill her, but never really being afraid of him. Vash, of course. She was just doing what he would do if he were here. The memory of herself kissing Knives hit her brain again and Meryl snapped out of her thoughts, visions of the soft smooth taste of his lips and the feel of his skin flying out of her head. She looked back up at Knives and was about to say something.  
He was staring at her with an astonished look in his eyes.  
Shit, she thought, going red, Does he remember that? Eek! Well he does now! He can read your mind, stupid! Meryl slapped herself on the forehead. She gave Knives as sideways glance, but he was already glaring down at the ground and not looking at her. Meryl sighed in frustration and filled a bowl full of soup, which she set roughly down in front of Knives.  
"I'm being nice to you," she huffed, "because Vash prefers you alive. I don't want to see Vash upset so I'm doing my best to keep you alive no matter how much you want to bleed yourself to death!" She folded her arms and sat down crossly, "So, you better eat your soup while it's still warm or you'll go passing out again, and I can't carry you to wherever it is we're going!"  
Knives grit his teeth together, "Arrogant woman, you know I could..."  
"Yeah, yeah I know," Meryl interrupted, "you could kill me in a heartbeat, right? But you won't. You said it yourself that you need me for your plan, so stop threatening me already and let me help you! How often do you get a helpful hostage? I don't like what your up to, but for Vash's sake I'm going to keep you alive wither you like it or not." Meryl grabbed a bowl of soup and attacked it with a vengeance. Hearing nothing from Knives for a few minutes, she glanced at him out of the corner or her eye and nearly choked. To her surprise, he was eating his soup with a moody look on his face.  
Damn it, he thought, why am I doing what she said? She's right, I can't kill her. I need her for the plant to work, but Christ she's a bitch. What does Vash see in her?  
Still, he couldn't help being the tiniest bit impressed by her attempts to intimidate him. He glared at her from behind the steam rising from the bowl of soup. She was busy eating and wasn't paying any attention to him. Knives trailed his eyes from her furrowed brow to her jaw that was violently chewing away. He followed the line of her neck down to her past her torso coming to rest on the strong muscles of her thighs, which were barely visible from under the hem of her skirt that had hiked up slightly when she had sat down.  
Knives felt something in his chest constrict and he looked away, his face turning pink. What's happening to me, I haven't felt this way since...no, that's not it. Something stopped me from killing her. But I have to do it. I don't have a choice. I have to use her as the link. She's not Rem, remember. You're only using her because Vash is attached to her for some odd reason. Once she's gone, he won't have a choice anymore. She's just a stupid piece of human garbage and I only have to put up with her until we activate the plant.  
When the two had finished, Meryl packed up their supplies and they reloaded the thomas. Knives made sure to hide any evidence of the campsite before they left.  
"Why are you doing that?" Meryl asked, "I thought you said you wanted Vash to find us?"  
"Not yet," he snapped, "Not until after we reach our destination."  
"Then I'll shut you up for good you irritating harpy," he muttered to himself as he climbed up into the saddle.  
Arrogant asshole. She thought, setting the thomas in motion.  
"I heard that!" He thought back tersely.  
  
Vash stood on the top of a high cliff that overlooked the eastern desert. The sun was setting behind him, causing the sand to glow with a fiery light. The receding orb sent long shadows that reached across the dunes like fingers that were searching for something. Just past the horizon, were the ones he was searching for, but he wouldn't be able to track them in the darkness, so the humanoid typhoon sat down and began to bed down for the night. He'd been following his brother's tracks for two days now, and he felt like he was getting farther and farther behind. He even stopped sending out a mental signal. Knives wasn't answering him and was blocking any attempts he might make at contacting Meryl.  
You're planning something big, Knives, I know it. Is that why you took her too? Are you trying to get me to go back there? Do you still think that old plant will work? Vash thought as he stretched out on his blanket, eyes fixed on the darkening landscape. You managed to fool me into thinking you were asleep by blocking me mentally for nearly two weeks. You planned this whole escape, right down to the thomas and canteens. I thought I had the feeling I was being watched during that time. Maybe I should have tried harder. I guess there wasn't anything I could have done for you, but I had to try, you are my only brother after all. Vash sighed, "I thought I could make you see them as I do."  
He turned over on his back and gazed sadly up at the stars. The memory of sitting on that cliff above that town and looking at the stars with Meryl came back to him. She had tried so hard to snap him out of his depression after he'd been forced to kill Legato.  
I guess I know now how you felt back then, Meryl. It's hard trying to help someone who doesn't want it. I wish you were here right now. I want your help now, I want... I..need you. Wolfwood was right. I should have told you before. Maybe if I had I wouldn't have left you alone then. I hope it's not too late. He breathed in the night air deeply before closing his eyes and dropping into a dreamless sleep.  
  
Her hands tugged at his shirt buttons, eagerly trying to undo them. He chuckled into her open mouth as he eased her frantic fingers away and undid the buttons himself. The crisp fabric slid down his shoulders and fell to the floor as her fingers trailed down his bare back. He deepened their kiss, opening her mouth to bury his tongue inside it as she fought it passionately with her own. He skillfully, lifted the back of her white undershirt up and slipped his hands underneath to feel her warm skin, stroking his hands up and down her back. The front of their bodies molded as they rubbed themselves together, hands touching every bit of exposed skin. She felt her heart pounding in her chest, body alive with the erotic sensations he was awakening in her again.  
Meryl had a sudden moment of clarity. This is my dream. I remember it. Oh crap, that's right, it's only a dream. For a moment she was disappointed in the fact that none of it was real. But then, she felt him move his hand around to the front of her shirt and caress the sensitive skin under her breasts. His tongue nibbled on her ear and she felt his hot anxious breath against her neck. Meryl gasped.  
If this is a dream, she thought slyly, then there's be no harm in taking it as far as I can...is there? After all, this may be the only time I ever get with Vash, or at least imaginary Vash. And with one swoop she attacked him, knocking him down.  
Now they were on the ground and she was on top of him. Meryl attacked his neck; pressing kisses up and down along his collar and chin. He arched himself up into her, and she moaned again when she felt his need for her thrust up against her thigh. His hands pulled at the hem of her shirt again, inching it up over her shoulders and head and tossing it aside. Meryl felt their body temperatures increase dramatically as their naked skin came in contact. Their mouths locked in a heated searching kiss as he rolled over her so he was on top, straddling her, his gentle hands lightly touching the sides of her breast. She gasped and learned into his hands, silently begging for more.  
His mouth left hers and made a path down the beating pulse of her neck. When the stubble on his chin scraped and tickled her chest, Meryl giggled breathlessly, until she felt his tongue slide over her breast and circle lazily around and around, closing in on its center. She sucked in her breath and clutched at his back when his lips surrounded her, and she ran her nails down to the waist of his pants.  
Sliding her fingers beneath the elastic band, she grasped his backside and pressed their hips together. He moaned around her breast when his hardness pushed against her again and she shivered from the vibrations, tightening her grip on his butt. His mouth sucked on her neck again as she felt his hands slide down to her legs and spread them apart, taking time to gently tease her inner thighs.  
"Unnm.." Came a sound from the back of her throat when he lifted her hips to rub himself between her legs through their clothing. Meryl wrapped her legs around him and rose her hips up to meet his dry thrusts that pressed into the thin material that separated them. She felt her resistance fading fast as he throbbed against her flesh with an insistent pressure and need. She needed to feel him. How could he ever think his scarred and tortured body would ever turn her away from him?  
Her hands slipped around the sides of his pants as she brought the waistband down over his hips. Soon she would...  
Wait a second! Her hormone-crazed mind screeched to a halt.  
Scars...  
She blinked dumbly, what happened to his scars? Her hands felt up the sides of his back. His skin was whole and smooth, without a blemish or mark. No scars!  
"Vash...?" She whispered hoarsely.  
The man above her stopped, still breathing heavily. Meryl craned her neck to the side to get a look at his normally gentle face and kind eyes. Her hand came up to brush the long bangs away from his eyes.  
He turned his head to face her and she found herself eye to eye with...  
...Knives...  
  
ILLUSTRATION: Dreaming You (http:)  
  
To be continued... whew...pant pant that was a rough one!  
  
Next Time on Edge: Chapter 7 Surviving and Plants 


	7. Surviving and Plants

CHAPTER 7: SURVIVING AND PLANTS  
  
Vash the Stampede shot up like a bullet. He jumped out of his blankets so quickly that he lost his footing on the edge of the cliff and slid over with a high girlie screech, arms and legs flailing in all directions.  
"Aiiiieeeeee!"  
Landing on his head ten feet below...  
THUD!  
His body folded over in a crumpled headstand and his eyes rolled around like pin balls. Little winged Vashs fluttered and bounced around his head, giggling insanely, each with a doughnut in hand.  
"Uughn...what a nightmare!" He slurred, picking himself up.  
Shaking the stars out of his eyes, Vash climbed back up to the top of the cliff and flopped down on the ground, rubbing his sore head. "Maaann, it was such a good dream to!" He whined, "Yeah...great dream, right up until that part when we..." He stopped mid sentence, his eyes widening.  
It wasn't me. He thought It's always been me, but this time...it was...  
Vash's mouth hung open in disbelief as the last part of the dream came back to him. His heart wrenched with the realization of it. It was definitely Meryl, but the face she had looked into was not his. It was his brother. It was Knives. How was that possible?  
"Meryl..." He breathed. "No...don't tell me I'm...?" Tears filled his vision as a terrible thought entered his mind. "Am I already...too late?"  
  
Fifty iles east, Meryl also woke up with a start. Sweat stood out on her forehead and she was breathing quickly as she clutched the blankets.  
What was that!?  
Frantically, she felt for her clothes, breathing a sigh of relief when she found them still on her own body. Her eyes darted wildly around, searching for...  
Whew, she thought when she saw her psychopathic companion still sound asleep on his mat, which he had placed as far away from her as he could. He was turned away from her and Meryl could see his breathing was slow and steady.  
Good, he's still asleep. The last thing I need, she groaned, flopping back onto her mat, is that pain-in-my-ass plant reading my mind tonight. Meryl rubbed her eyes roughly and looked up at the stars. The cool night breeze chilled her damp skin and she shivered under her thin blanket.  
What a nightmare. She thought to herself, Geez, now that stupid jerk is ruining my dreams too! Either that or I'm just going crazy.  
She glanced over past the glowing embers of the fire to where Knives lay silent. Ghost sensations scurried up her bare arms and legs, causing goose bumps to pop up and her face to turn pink at the memory of the soft brushes of his hands. It was...so tender...caring...loving, so unlike him. She touched her burning cheek.  
What's the matter with me?! It was just a stupid dream. Get a grip, Meryl! The only thing you have to worry about is keeping him from killing himself, you, and anyone else. You're doing this for Vash, remember! She smacked herself in the face several times before pulling the covers up over her head and snuggling down into the drafty material. Vash...hurry... She thought as her eyelids slowly closed and she fell asleep again.  
The campsite settled under a heavy veil of stillness as the last burning embers faded away into charcoal. The stars twinkled over the peaceful scene and the three moons glowed with a serene light.  
But one being in the camp was far from calm.  
Knives lay on his side; eyes wide open, panting as quietly as he could. Beads of sweat quivered on his face and neck, and his chest tensed as he tried to keep his reaction to that extremely vivid dream a secret from that...that...infernal woman! Still, he couldn't stop the images from assaulting his vision for at least the next hour.  
  
Back at the house...  
The early morning suns were just starting to rise in the West, casting long shadows on the charred remains of the little farmhouse on the edge of town. Some folks might be a bit upset if their home suddenly blew itself up in a smoking heap, but in the little shed to the south two people were counting their blessings.  
Milly leaned over the cot to check on the old bandages she wrapped around Nicholas' torso the night before. The bleeding had stopped and he seemed to be healing just fine. She sighed and rested her head on the edge of the bed.  
"Nicholas..." She whispered, "can you hear me?"  
"Mmmn..."  
"How do you feel?"  
Wolfwood squinted his eyes and tried to move, "Umgh...well, I'm no doctor, but I'd still have to give you a unqualified diagnosis of 'pretty shitty'."  
"Well, I just made up some medicine for those wounds of yours," Milly chirped merrily, "so you just sit still while I take care of you, dear."  
She cheerfully unwrapped the gauze and tended to Nicholas' bullet wounds, which luckily, had not hit any major organs. His old scars stood out vividly against his pale skin. The ointment Milly mixed up was cool and relaxing against his sore muscles and Wolfwood was just about to give a contended sigh when...  
"Ugh! What's that smell?" His face turned a sick shade of green as he held his nose, "Don't tell me that stuff is suppose to smell like that!"  
"Well, of course it is, silly," Milly sang as she glopped more of the foul smelling goop on his chest, "It's my own special blend of herbs. Like my middle big sister used to say, 'The worse it stinks the better it heals!'"  
"Remind me to bring nose plugs when you take me to visit your folks." Wolfwood grumbled, taking gulps of air from behind his hand. "Ow!"  
"Oh, stop complaining you big baby," Milly scolded, poking him in the gut. "You could be a lot worse off, you know. I'm just thankful this wasn't as serious as it looked. I don't know what I'd do if you died again..." She trailed off and looked down at her hands.  
Nicholas bit his lower lip and lowered his hand from his face, doing his best to breathe the noxious air despite his watering eyes. Taking her hand up, he leaned in towards her and softly kissed her cheek. "I'm not planning on going anywhere for a long time, honey." He chuckled.  
Milly smiled up into his face and planted a tender kiss on his lips. "Nicholas...how do you think Mr. Vash and Meryl are doing? I'm worried about them."  
Wolfwood sat back on the bed, thinking about the events of the past couple of days. He remembered Vash's last words before he took off after Knives. They still worried him.  
  
"Vash, what's this all about? Why did Knives suddenly up and explode, and what's Meryl got to do with all this?"  
"My guess is that he took her for insurance. He knows I wouldn't go back to that place unless he has a hostage."  
"What place? What are you talking about...what's this all about, Vash!"  
Knives is after something...something we left behind one hundred and thirty years ago. Something no one remembers. If he finds it and uses it, none of us, not even I, will be able to survive. Take good care of yourself and Milly. See you later."  
  
"I wouldn't worry too much, babe." Nicholas said, feigning calm, "Vash'll find them, I'd bet my life on that. Besides, I think Knives wants to be found, that's why he snatched Meryl instead of killing her."  
"But," Milly frowned, "I still don't understand why he took her. He wouldn't hurt her, would he?"  
Wolfwood smirked and stroked a finger along Milly's chin, "I hope not babe. He knows Vash will follow them for sure if he's got Meryl. Vash said there was a place he never wanted to go back to and I think this is how Knives planned to get him there. I hate to admit it, but he's actually pretty smart for a crazed lunatic. He's figured something out that even Vash hasn't realized yet."  
"What's that?"  
"Humph. That needle noggin is in love with her."  
Milly opened her eyes as wide as she could, sparkling with joy. "Oh, I knew it!" She squeaked, grabbing Nicholas around the neck and hugging him with all her might.  
"Heeeyy!" He wailed, "I'm injured here! Bleh! You're getting that goop all over me! Miilllyy!"  
  
Knives stared out across the dead land, lost in thought.  
How did it come to this? They should all have been destroyed by now. Filthy spiders...all of them. Spreading their poison over this wasted planet...sucking the life from his brothers and sisters...they should be dead.  
But they weren't dead...and it was all his fault. No...not his...  
Vash. It was his fault. His own brother...a plant like him. How could he ignore the pain of their brethren? He must be able to hear it still...late at night when nothing moved...the heart wrenching cries from the beings that lived outside of time as their souls were slowly squeezed dry by the greedy spiders and their plant machines. Did he really care more for these crawling bugs than for his own kind?  
Yes. Especially that...that female.  
That loud mouthed, arrogant, bitchy little chit had been very free in her words with him lately. The thought sickened him. He had watched them over the past two weeks whenever he snuck out of his room to spy...saw their quick glances and felt the quickening pulses...that night in the kitchen. He let her touch him. Actually let that dirty human hang all over him. And, the desires...as if merely being in their presence wasn't bad enough...Vash had to be soiled with "feelings" for that one. Knives could feel it as he lay in his room at night...and the dreams... God those damned dreams...disgusting...but...  
But, it didn't matter anymore. No matter what she said, she would end up the same in the end...  
Despite his best efforts, his cheeks still burned red at the memory of the dreams, because no matter how much he denied it, he had found her strangely...enticing. His lip curled with disdain. It was all so...mushy, so human.  
Pathetic.  
That's why he took her. She would be the link. He would kill her, and Vash would see it all. Maybe then, he would realize the truth. It didn't matter what she said anymore. Love is pain. If you don't love, there will be no pain, and they all die in the end, every one of them.  
Knives had wanted his brother alive; they were both plants after all. All that planning, to get Vash to meet him, to break his spirit and make him forget the ramblings of that ridiculous woman he put so much faith in all those years ago. And still he failed. Vash should be wallowing in the deepest pits of despair right now, he had after all, killed of his own free will. It should have destroyed him, betraying Rem's memory.  
It didn't make sense. He was getting as illogical as those damned spiders.  
The other thing that bothered him was that reoccurring dream of his. Being trapped in the clear blue water that changed to a deep purple hue when he got closer to the surface. But he was never able to get past the edge. What was out there, really? Was it just nothing, maybe, just a silly dream, some neural connections firing? If so, why could he never get past the surface of the water? He remembered looking behind him and seeing himself. Did that mean he was holding himself back, that maybe he really didn't want to go beyond the edge of the water? It was all so baffling. But maybe...maybe he was mistaken. Maybe it hadn't been him holding onto his own legs, what if it was Vash?  
They were supposed to be the saviors of their race, the ones born with free will. It was so clear that their mission was to annihilate the human species and save the plants, how could Vash not see that? That was it; Vash was the one holding him back, the one keeping him from realizing his true potential. Knives tried to give his brother a chance to change...to see that there was no alternative...he had to choose one or the other. Humans or plants...  
...Well, he had made his choice. He had chosen to be human.  
And now I make my choice...brother. When I activate the central plant I WILL kill them all...starting with her.  
  
The next day, Meryl noticed that Knives was uncustomarily quiet, even for him. Not only that, but he didn't seem to want to look her in the eye.  
What's with him? She frowned, He isn't even trying to piss me off. All this silence if driving me nuts.  
It was hard enough riding this close to him as it was. Flashes of that crazy dream kept popping back into her memory, no matter how much she tried to forget them. She couldn't help it; she could feel his eyes boring into her back as they trotted along the red sand dunes. It was difficult going uphill, because gravity would take over, making her slide back. Meryl had to hold on the saddle horn to keep from leaning on Knives. A few times her grip failed her and her back brushed against him causing her pulse to jump and her skin to flush. The thought of contact with the dangerous plant had become frightening and enticing at the same time.  
Meryl shook herself to clear her mind. That was simply ridiculous!  
She was in love with Vash! She had waited for Vash. And yet, she found herself strangely drawn to his brother.  
All right, maybe it was just a substitution complex. Perhaps a weird psychological quirk! They were almost the same, after all. But, the only similarity between the two brothers was their appearance, and otherwise they weren't completely identical anymore. Even so, she felt a strong desire to protect this maniac. He was Vash's brother after all, his only living relative. And she had made a promise to him and to herself to protect him. But, protecting him was as far as the emotion went. She definitely wasn't attracted to him...  
A grunt came from the plant when the thomas hit a dip in the land. Meryl heard his sharp intake of breath. He hadn't let her properly attend to his wounds back when he had fallen off the thomas, and the loosely wound bandages were starting to unravel.  
Knives felt his head throbbed with dull pain.  
"Well, it serves you right." Meryl scolded, "I told you we should have stayed at the last campsite until you were healed enough to travel. This way you'll just make yourself worse!"  
She had become bolder with him since he was choosing to ignore her. His silence actually scared her more than anything else, so she had been berating him for the past couple of hours, trying to get a rise out of him.  
  
Uhg, why do I even care how he is? I should be glad he's not threatening to kill me anymore.  
He reminded her of a coiled cobra.  
Knives didn't respond.  
The silence sat heavily in the air, making her fidgety.  
"Knives?"  
The throbbing pain in his head increased.  
"Knives? Hello?"  
His temples began to ache.  
"Knives? Hey are you alive back there? I'd appreciate a response!"  
The headache jack hammered against his skull, and he couldn't take it anymore. He had to say something if he wanted her to shut up.  
"I'm fine," he muttered. "Once we get to our destination I'll be able to heal in a matter of hours, so just keep your annoying mouth shut and watch for the structure."  
Meryl humped. Knives prayed that she would just let it go and stop talking.  
No such luck.  
"Fine. You know you still haven't told me what we're looking for. How am I suppose to know what it is when I see it? You could at least tell me that!"  
He was barely aware of the heavy pounding again. "Tch. We're looking for the wreckage of a ship. Now will you shut the hell up!" He felt like he was barley hanging on to consciousness.  
"A ship! What kind of ship?"  
Knives had to restrain himself from strangling her with his mind.  
"A big shiny metal one." he hissed sarcastically through clenched teeth, hiding his pain as best he could.  
"You jerk, I'm just trying to get an idea of where we're going! I hope you don't think that I actually want to go anywhere with you! It wasn't my idea to go on this little vacation, and I'll have you know that...uh...are you alright?" Meryl stopped her tirade when she glared back at Knives and saw him teetering on the edge of his seat. His eyes were going in and out of focus and his breathing was erratic.  
The pounding in his head gave a flash of light and Knives lost his balance, falling off the thomas and landing on the ground with a thud. Blurry visions swam in front of his eyes, unable to focus on anything.  
Damnit... Meryl felt a rush of panic hit her.  
"Hold still! Don't move or you'll make it worse." Meryl leapt off the thomas and propped Knives up carefully against a boulder. She checked the bandages and found them soaked with blood. Knives' vision slowly cleared, and he saw her huddling over him with a concerned expression on her face.  
For a spit second, the world was wiped away, and he saw nothing except for her face. The concern and caring in her eyes shook him to his foundations. All Knives could do was stare, unbelieving, as she tended to him.  
Why in hell's name is she looking at me like that? Why is she helping me?  
It didn't make any sense. After years of observing the human creatures, he had discovered one consistent rule. People only "help" others when they want something in return, only selfish reasons existed. So what was her motivation? Devotion to his brother? She should have taken the opportunity to run away and leave him to die, if she was smart. So that must mean....she wanted something.  
If he knew what she wanted, he could use it against her. Make her a willing participant in his plans.  
But what?  
"Almost done." Meryl said, readjusting the cloth around his right shoulder. Knives was quiet again, and it was rather unsettling. The blank look on his face told her nothing about what was going on inside his head. However, with the pure malice gone from his features, he did look a little more like Vash than before. Maybe this was a good time to plant a seed, so to speak, in the plants brain.  
Meryl pulled at the collar of her shirt, nervously. The back of her neck felt strangely cold, like cool metal, but she decided to ignore it for now.  
"You should rest for a little while. I hope you learned your lesson."  
Knives fuzzy brain barely registered what she was saying, but he managed to catch a few random words.  
"You should listen to me next time. I told you that you'd wear yourself out like that. Course I'd be dreaming if I thought you or Vash would ever listen to me!  
DREAM  
"Boy, you and Vash are just alike when it comes to using common sense."  
ALIKE  
"You're more alike than just your bodies, you know."  
BODIES  
Dream, alike, bodies. That cursed dream, his similarity to Vash, and their bodies.  
Knives felt his brain click on...  
...so that was it.  
Meryl froze as she felt Knives' hand clamp over her wrist. His face came up uncomfortably close to hers.  
"So, my brother and I are just alike...is that so..." He hissed in her ear.  
Meryl didn't like the look she saw on his face as he tightened his grip on her arm. Something was defiantly wrong. "W-what, what are you talking about. I, uh, I think you need to lie down, you don't look so good."  
But he didn't let go. He tightened his grip.  
"Just alike..." He mumbled, "so...that's what you want. That's what you've been after..."  
This wasn't making any sense, so Meryl decided she'd use the pissed off technique, "Look you crazy plant, I don't know what you're implying but...hhihhh! Hey! Knock it off!"  
But his hands weren't stopping. They brushed down her bare arms and down her sides, resting on her hips. Meryl's cheeks flushed pink and she found she couldn't move. The dream flashed through her brain.  
Did he know?  
She let out a frightened shriek when he grabbed her roughly by the waist and spun her around, locking his arm around her neck in a strangle hold. His other hand slipped under the front of her shirt and began inching up the material.  
Meryl's eyes widened in horror as she felt her body stiffen at the sudden assault.  
"Stop." She choked.  
"Why?" His voice was deadly still. "Now that I know what you've been after."  
"What?" Her voice barely worked. Knives took the opportunity to slid his hand under the edge of her bra and run his fingers over the skin at the base of her breast. His voice was a knife in her brain.  
"I know what you want now. No one ever does anything for free."  
"Let me go." Meryl whispered. She tried to force her body to move, to escape, but she felt glued to the spot.  
"I know why you've been so 'nice' to me now." His breath was warm against her neck as he lazily toyed with the straps of her bra. He was enjoying making her squirm; paying her back for all the hours of annoyance she had given him.  
Make her a participant. Make her willing. Use it against her.  
Meryl couldn't figure out what was going on. It was all happening so fast. Her muddled brain seized on the one person she could think of that could save her.  
"Help...Vash..."  
Knives smirked, iron faced. She wasn't going to fool him.  
"Your thoughts betray him. This is what you wanted. It's what you dreamed!"  
My god, the dream! Her mind screamed. He does know!  
One of his hands slid down over the side of her right breast, so gently she could barely feel it.  
"...n-no..." her heart raced in her chest, the blood pounding faster and faster.  
Something was building inside her head.  
"Yes. You think I don't know about it, that I've never...indulged." He cupped the breast firmly, and pressed himself up against her from behind.  
"No..." She began to struggle, her head spinning.  
"You thought to get me in your debt, didn't you." The bra lifted up from her body.  
"No." Her brain screamed.  
"This is what my brother does, isn't it?" He roughly grabbed her bare chest.  
"No!" The screaming grew louder.  
"My brother put his trust in a whore!" Knives thrust himself up behind her suddenly.  
"NO!" Meryl's scream burst straight from her brain and into the cold night air. Instead of cold, the back of her neck was now burning with fire.  
In an instant she was free.  
Knives lay prostrate on the ground, hands clenched tightly over his ears, his eyes shut tightly. His mind was spinning from the mental blow. He was, after all, only trying to scare her, to use her weaknesses against her, like he had always done with humans. But something backfired again, just like before. Before Knives blacked out, he thought dumbly,  
How? What is this woman? It's like she...was inside my head...  
  
Over a hundred iles away, Vash the Stampede clamped his hands over his ears and fell to his knees in the dense hot sand.  
"Ouch! What the...?"  
It felt like two bright hot needles had been driven through his eyes into his brain. Vash checked his hands and face for any trace of blood, but there was none. It had been a phantom sensation.  
"That felt like, like a mental attack!" He breathed, "But, I've only felt that when fighting Knives, or when he's been...hurt."  
Instantly, Vash was on his feet again, piling down the sand dunes like a runaway train. He knew it could only mean one thing.  
"Knives tried to hurt Meryl somehow and she sent his energy back at him."  
Instead of being astounded by the fact that a human could have that kind of effect on a plant, Vash simply smiled to himself as he ran.  
"Good. That means she hasn't found my little "gift" yet. I just hope it stays hidden until I get there. Gotta hurry!"  
Even though he didn't want to admit it, Vash was feeling the fatigue of the journey catching up to him. His body was tough, sure, but everything needs to recharge itself, and he had not been sleeping at night. Afraid of what he would dream, or rather, what Meryl would dream again. He just looked at the stars and remembered a time when they both looked up at them together.  
It was better than dreaming.  
  
The first thing Knives saw when he opened his eyes again, was the dull gold glow of the rising sun. Some of the light made a path from the horizon to the small patch of ground where he lay, crossing itself over the pitted landscape like a living connect the dot game.  
He blinked.  
The small movement caused the dull pain in his head to resurface and he squinted his eyes. His hand came up to lift the thick blanket from his shoulders, but instead came in contact with a fresh layer of bandages, wrapped around his torso, arm, and shoulder.  
Instantly, he remembered.  
"So, you're conscious again I take it."  
Quick as a flash, Knives sat up, and just as quickly, his head gave a violent throb of protest. He winced before he could stop himself.  
"I wouldn't recommend that, Knives," Meryl sighed, "you'll just pass out again if you try to over exert yourself."  
Knives tried to get his blurry eyes to focus on the source of her voice. Just in front of the rising sun, he made out her silhouette, sitting on a sizable boulder. Even without the full use of his eyes, he could see the gleam of the knife in her hand.  
"Why...uhn...didn't you do it?" He rasped, "Why didn't you kill me when you had the chance? Were you waiting until I woke up so you could hear my screams? You humans, nothing but savages."  
"Has anyone ever told you, Knives, that you need to get over yourself!"  
The comment was unexpected, and left him open-mouthed for a moment.  
Light from the morning's first rays cut across her face as she stood up, looking down on the befuddled plant. The effect made her look much taller than she really was, and Knives found once again that he was caught in the sight.  
Meryl moved slowly toward him and sat down on the ground, looking him squarely in the eye. All of a sudden, Knives felt nervous. No one had ever been this bold with him, and lived.  
I can't kill her, he thought, I haven't even been able to hurt her. It's like something stopped me each time I tried. So how do I control her? Every time I tried to use my mind, the power was reversed back on me. And scaring her only results in my own brain getting shocked. But, it's impossible for a human to have these kinds of abilities, isn't it? She'd have to be a plant to be able to control mental energy. What is she?  
Meryl narrowed her eyes as she spoke, "Alright, Knives. I don't know what kind of agenda you've got out here in the wastelands. I don't know where you're taking me, or what we're looking for, or what you intend to do once we find it. Maybe you're right. Maybe I should have killed you while I had the chance. Lord knows it probably would have been the most sensible thing to do. But..." Her eyes focused directly above Knives head, on the last few stars in the western sky, "But I made a promise. A promise I can't break, because if I did, then I would break to. That's why I've been so "nice" to you? That's why I've been taking care of you. That's why I've been trying to keep you alive in spite of your self destructive behavior!"  
The anger in her voice had raised it to a high pitch as she screamed at him with all her might, "Not because I want to screw you cause you look like Vash!"  
Knives gritted his teeth against the accusation.  
"Tch. I wasn't going to "screw" you as you so delicately put, human. The thought is repulsive. It was merely an attempt to scare you to shut you up. I thought using your painfully obvious affections for my brainless brother would be the best means to the end. After several incidences of redirected emotion came to my attention, I decided to use it against you, that's all. However, I seem to have been...mistaken."  
Was it...disappointment he detected in his own voice?  
She got up stiffly, flinging their saddlebags over the thomas' back and preparing to set off. Without looking at him she said, "I stand by my promise. Even though you're a deranged lunatic and a killer, even though you've attacked me more than once and kidnapped me...you are still Vash's brother, his only family. He cares about you, so I have to take care of you until he gets here. I have to keep patching you up every time you spring a leak. Even if it's the stupidest thing I'll ever do, I could never face him if I allowed you to die out here."  
She finished packing and walked over to where Knives still lay. Pinching her lips together, she stretched out her hand to help him up to his feet.  
"Keh," he spat, "I don't need help from a filthy spider."  
"You keep saying that and then I keep helping you anyway, so why don't you give it a rest?" She leaned in farther, offering her arm. "Come on, I can't lift you by myself, your bandages could shift."  
He ground his teeth until his whole jaw hurt, Shit, I don't have a choice. I'm too weak to do anything on my own right now. Like it or not, I have to accept her help. She won't live to tell about it anyway.  
But, in the back of his mind, Knives found himself for the first time, doubting his decision to kill her.  
Swallowing as much pride as he could muster, Knives reluctantly reached out for her arm, surprised when she grabbed it roughly and pulled him up to his feet with a lot of force for someone as small as she was. The result was sharp pain shooting through every injured limb.  
"Hey!" He barked, "What happened to not shifting the bandages, woman?!"  
"Just because I promised not to let you die on the way, does not mean I promised to get you there painlessly." Meryl hissed, and he could just make out the hint of a smirk on her lips. "Oh, and by the way, I don't care if you are a super powered plant thingy, if you so much as lay a finger on me again, you're going to lose more than your stems, plant boy."  
Knives growled as he hoisted himself up into the back seat on the thomas.  
"If I was in possession of my full strength and powers, believe me, I'd crush you like a bug. The only reason you're still alive is because I needed a hostage. But don't think that I will go easy on you when my mission is completed simply because I look like my brother."  
Meryl stopped and looked behind her, her eyes were suddenly very sad.  
"You're nothing like Vash." She said quietly, before turning around and kicking the thomas into motion.  
Knives outwardly humped, dismissing her last comment. But inside...against his will, something about her simple statement...hurt.  
  
The two odd companions journeyed in relative silence for the entire day, stopping only to eat and stretch. Well, Meryl ate and stretched. Knives refused to budge from his perch on the thomas and he insisted that plants didn't need common human food, which she assumed to be a lie due to his poorly hidden rumbling stomach.  
Just as the sun was reaching the western horizon at the end of the day, Meryl caught a small twinkle to the south. As she gazed harder at the hurriedly darkening spot, the twinkle turned into a glimmer. Light was obviously reflecting off of a huge metal structure in the distance.  
"Knives." She said quickly.  
"What is it?" He responded grumpily as his head nodded toward his chest.  
"On nothing, I guess," Meryl humped, "Just that ship you were so anxious to get to."  
"The ship!" He was up in a flash, face pointed like a bloodhound toward the glowing chunk of metal.  
With his superior eyesight, Knives instantly recognized the ancient plant ship wreckage, crash-landed over a hundred and thirty years ago. He felt the old power radiating from within and knew that his plans were only hours from completion. Once inside the ship he would be able to heal in no time, and then...and then...  
The gnawing doubt resurfaced. When the time came, could he go through with it? The small woman had seriously shaken his mental foundations. Foundations four times as old as she was. She was just another wasteful spider, something to be exterminated. And yet, she had managed to surprise him at every turn. What was she really? Knives began to see why his brother had taken a very personal interest in this little human.  
No. He thought, I'm not Vash. I'm not a pathetic wimp like him. These human spiders use us for their own selfish reasons. They drain our life like sand through a sieve, and when we are dying, they stamp us out. They are the real murderers. That is why I have to kill them. I have to kill her.  
As the last beams of light from the west made their way across the broken land, it found itself touching the hull of a long abandoned ship. In front of that ship stood two figures, one tall and blonde, the other short and dark. The echo of grinding metal sounded against the rocky crags, which surrounded the ship as the makeshift doors of the structure, slid open, seemingly of their own accord.  
And as the sun made it's final departure, the two figures disappeared into the dark mouth of the dead plant ship.  
  
Next Time on Edge: Chapter 8 Flowers and Reasons 


	8. Flowers and Reasons

CHAPTER 8: FLOWERS AND REASONS  
  
"At last, I've finally found it."  
Vash the Stampede tilted his yellow sunglasses up to get a better view of the shining metal hull in the distance. The sun was just sinking behind the horizon, and the last rays of light glinted off the solid metal plating hidden amid the sharp crags of the southern mountain region. He gave a determined grin.  
"Everything seems to be the same as the last time," he said stepping slowly down the steep slope he was perched on. "Now all that's left to do is get inside, rescue Meryl and...aaiaiiiiaiiiieeeeee!"  
After taking one-step downhill, Vash found himself slipping wildly down the steep incline toward the hard looking sand below.  
"Aiiighhhh! Is this the end!!"  
WHOMP! With a resounding thud, he hit the ground, butt first. It stung, but at least he was still in one piece.  
"Man, that was pretty scary," he sighed in relief. "All that lack of sleep seems to be catching up with me. Good thing I'm almost there." Vash stood and dusted himself off before setting off towards the ship once more.  
"Looks like smooth sailing until I get to the shi...iiiiiiit!"  
After one step forwards, Vash found himself sinking quickly into the sand beneath him.  
"AHHHH! QUICKSAND!"  
Struggling like a maniac to get out of the swirling sands, he soon discovered, was not the best plan. The pull of the sinkhole was just too strong and Vash was speedily sucked under the vortex.  
He heaved a sigh as he disappeared under the surface.  
"This might take a little longer than I thought."  
  
Meryl had never seen anything as amazing as the ancient wreckage of the old ship. When they first entered, it had been as dark as a cave, but as they walked a little farther on, soft green lights began to glow from all corners of the passageway. As far as she could tell, the light was coming from small bulbous shaped pods that looked like they were growing out of cracks in the walls. The green lights dotted the deep black of the ship, lighting it up like stars at night.  
"What...what is this place?"  
But, Knives was already walking deeper into the structure. Meryl hurried to catch up to him. He seemed to be regaining his strength with each step. For a while the two of them picked their way through the ship in silence.  
Again, Meryl felt a slight cold sensation on the back of her neck, like metal. She reached behind her collar and found a small metal circle attached to the hem. A button.  
That's odd, she thought, I don't remember that ever being there.  
She dismissed the thought quickly as she made her way through the crumbling corridor.  
Knives' brain teamed with memories as he walked. It was like coming home.  
Meryl carefully climbed over a fallen beam that blocked the passage. It was all so amazing that she barely noticed Knives' presence. The technology in this place was incredible. Inside the different rooms were various glittering and glowing instruments. And machines and robots that appeared as if they still functioned in the crumbling rubble. While she was gazing into the half open doorways, a twinkling light caught her attention.  
The reflected light was coming from a room on the far end of the hall and it shimmered against the opposite wall like waves. She checked on Knives. He was poking around amongst the debris farther down. Meryl ventured towards the mysterious door and peeked around the corner.  
The light was coming from more of those green bulbs, but they were reflecting off of something Meryl couldn't quite make out. Tall cylinders filled with water, or some type of liquid, that glowed with the same hazy green glow as the bulbs. Leaning in to get a better view, Meryl squinted her eyes through the dust that settled in the beams of light. There were shapes inside the cylinders.  
"What the..." she whispered, as her eyes began to adjust to the dim light. She could just make out something that looked like....  
"...my God!"  
Meryl suddenly felt her heart jump into her throat. Her eyes widened in shock.  
Unable to speak, she stumbled backwards through the open doorway, tripping over a piece of jagged metal and losing her balance. Grasping for a something to brace her fall, Meryl grabbed the first thing she could, a beam that had wedged itself against the wall of the corridor.  
But as she grasped the twisted iron, the beam shifted from the force of her pull, wrenching it free from the pinch of the floor and ceiling. Meryl felt the beam give slightly in her hands and she heard the sudden groan of the ceiling above her as the beam slid down the wall. It released its support and a mass of heavy metal ceiling and wreckage came crashing down on her. Convinced that she was about to die, Meryl shut her eyes and waited.  
And waited.  
She could still hear the creaking of the metal above her. Slowly, she opened her eyes again.  
For a fleeting instant, Meryl thought she saw Vash standing above her, arms raised above his head, holding the heavy metal beams up and away from her. The soft light against his skin made him glow with a supernatural aura, and for a moment, Meryl just stared in awe.  
"Vash..."  
His eyes turned to meet hers and Meryl's fantasy was shattered.  
"K-knives!" She stuttered.  
The look on his face was unreadable. He seemed like he was about to say something when the metal above them gave a final grinding screech. Knives ground his teeth together and flung the beam and debris harmlessly over to the opposite side of the passageway.  
Meryl sat in shock for a moment.  
That could've killed me, she thought. But...  
Knives still stood over her, facing away. She could hear his heavy breathing echo in the hollow corridor. Sweat stood out on his exposed limbs, glistening in the soft green haze.  
He saved me.  
A grunt came from the mysterious plant, and Meryl was snapped out of her reverie. He turned and regarded her with his customary scowl before striding past her down the hall again.  
"Unless you want to stay in this unstable section and get crushed to death, I suggest you get up off your ass and follow me. And stop snooping around where you don't belong." He said, his voice cold and emotionless.  
Nodding dumbly, Meryl got up and brushed the dust from her clothes. With one glace back at the fallen rubble, she jogged down the hallway to catch up to Knives. The bandages on his arms and torso were starting to show signs of fresh blood. The exertion of lifting the beams must have been extreme.  
"Are you...all right?" She asked quietly.  
"Tch." He spat. "You've got some nerve, woman. I'm not so bad off that I need you to look after me."  
"Hey! I was only...I mean..." Meryl stood, shaking in annoyance, and ready to rip him a new one. But then, he had just risked his life to save her. He wasn't Vash and never would be, but at that moment, the similarity between the two brothers was glaringly evident. No matter what happened before or after this, she owed him.  
"Thank you."  
She said it so quietly that Knives wasn't sure he had heard her correctly.  
"What?"  
"Thank you, for saving me." She repeated a little more forcefully.  
For a moment, Knives seemed puzzled, his eyes questioning. Then he frowned and turned away.  
"Humph. We are almost there, woman, so don't fall behind because I won't waste my time saving you again."  
"Uh...yeah right." Meryl said sourly, but as she continued to follow him down the dim passageway, she couldn't help but smile to herself. He had looked so much like Vash at that moment. Maybe there was some hope left after all, just like Vash had believed.  
  
Meanwhile, Knives fought with his own inner demons.  
What was going on? Of course, he had to save her, he needed to use her as the link in the machine. And to do that, he needed her alive. Only a living being could serve as the link now that the equipment was damaged. He remembered having the same argument with his brother about the activation of the PTD machine. It needed a living body to work. That was the reason, the only reason, he saved her life just now.  
(Really?)  
A voice in the back of his mind planted a seed of doubt.  
(Were you really thinking of the PTD activation procedure when you threw yourself in front of a ton of falling metal to save her? What was really on your mind at the exact second you decided to do it?)  
Knives growled through his teeth at his own rebellious brain. Of course he only saved her for the sake of the plan.  
(Really? Are you sure?)  
Despite all his efforts the seed of doubt grew.  
(Didn't you really save her because...  
...you wanted to?)  
No. That was ridiculous. He hated all humans; he hated all the filthy spiders that crawled on the surface of this dead planet. Especially that obnoxious loud mouthed bitch!  
(Really?)  
Knives bit down on the inside of his cheek to drown out the sound of his own mind. The taste of his own blood was metallic and cold. Just like the ship.  
He didn't expect the warm hand on his shoulder, and he whipped around so suddenly that Meryl nearly jumped out of her skin.  
"What do you want now!" He snarled at her.  
Meryl said nothing, but frowned and pointed toward a large open door.  
  
"You've been standing there for almost five minutes now. I may not know my way around this place, but I'm betting there is something important in that room over there."  
Knives blinked. Had it been that long?  
The room Meryl had pointed to was glowing with the strange green light of the bulbs on the walls. This light, however, was more intense than the other rooms, and also had other colors mingled in it as well. It's brightness and color spread out into the desolate passage, filling it with dancing light.  
How did I miss that? He thought, flustered.  
With a snarl, Knives pushed past Meryl and ducked in through the doorway. Looking over his shoulder he shot her a glare and barked at her.  
"Hurry up, woman! I already told you not to fall behind!"  
"Why you...uggh!" Meryl threw up her hands in anger. Fuming, she reluctantly followed Knives through the open passage, muttering to herself, "I guess you are feeling better if you're this much of a jerk again."  
The anger quickly left her body when she rounded the curve of the entrance and found herself standing in a very large room. It was breathtaking.  
Like the hallways of the ship, this room was dotted with glowing bulbs, only these bulbs were enormous and the light they produced was warm and bright. They were also different colors; green, blue, violet, red. Every color; all with a sense of freshness about them. The effect of the various colors made the room glow and sparkle like a gigantic kaleidoscope above her head. All Meryl could do was stand in mute wonder.  
Knives stopped to glance back at her and, for a moment, found himself trapped in her look. He himself had long since grown accustomed to the sight of this room and he had forgotten how beautiful it really was. But now, seeing this small insignificant human gazing in rapt awe at her surroundings, Knives felt an old sense of wonder of his own resurface, and he to took in the magnificent room with new eyes for a moment.  
Soon, he shook himself and continued on.  
"Hurry up. We're almost there."  
"It's like..." he heard her start and he paused, but she didn't continue.  
"What?" He said impatiently.  
"A garden." He stopped in his tracks. "It's like a garden, with flowers..of light..." she trailed off.  
Knives felt the world sway under his feet and a voice from a time long forgotten came back into his head...  
  
"It's like a flower garden, a beautiful growing garden full of life and possibilities."  
Little Knives sat along side his brother in the plant room, listening to Rem talk again about the endless possibilities of the future. He was bored to tears.  
"Tell us again, Rem!" Vash piped up, looking at the tall woman with puppy dog eyes.  
Stupid, brown noser, Knives thought testily. Always trying to get on her good side, not that she has a bad side. Rem is always so agreeable, always so "nice." Just once, I'd like to see her get mad, or angry, yell...or something.  
"This room and the plants you see around you will help us make our new home into another Earth, a paradise, with green growing trees and grass, and flowers."  
Rem rambled on for a while about the functions of the plants in the central part of the ship and the future of the human race and god knows what else for what seemed like ages to Knives. The whole time Vash sat gazing up at her in rapt attention.  
I can't take this anymore! Knives thought, and jumped down off the bridge to the lower landing.  
"Knives, where are you going?" Vash whined from above.  
"I'm going for a stretch," Knives called out, "I'll meet up with you in the rec room, alright!"  
For a while, he just wandered around in the cables and wires and large pipes that created the bases of the larger plant structures. He was lost in his own thoughts and didn't notice the console until he was right on top of it. Knives stared at the diagram on the display unit. He ran his fingers across the brilliant glowing letters underneath, PTD.  
"It must be referring to the plant above it. This huge blue one. It's got to be the largest one on the ship." He mused.  
The program sat open and ready, the worker on duty had probably just stepped out for a break.  
Nothing better to do, Knives sighed and opened the file in front of him.  
What he read changed his reality forever.  
  
"...just like a flower garden."  
The voice next to him brought him back to the present abruptly.  
Meryl turned to look at him, her eyes sparkling with amazement. But all Knives felt was the grim determination coming back to him from the bitter memory of when he had first learned of the human's plans for him and his brother.  
He wouldn't let the ghost of a dead woman nor the spirit of a living one interfere.  
"What is all this?" Meryl asked, still in a trance.  
Knives regarded her coldly for a moment; "This was called the plant room at one time. Every bulb on the surfaces of this room is a fully functional plant machine, capable of immense power."  
"I know what a plant is doofus." Meryl teased him. "I meant, what are they all doing in one place like this? Do they have anything to do with that huge blue plant over there?" She pointed to the center of the room where an enormous blue plant hung from the ceiling like an awkward chandelier. It was by far the largest plant she had ever seen, and was so big that it was difficult to see from one end of it to the other.  
Knives pressed his lips together, slightly annoyed by her tone, but on the other hand, impressed with how she had put two and two together. He decided he better watch what information he gave her, or she might get wise before he could complete his mission.  
"It's just another plant." He muttered, and walked away toward a row of smaller plants on the far side of the chamber.  
Meryl gave him a questioning look, as if she didn't believe him, but followed him anyway.  
As they passed by countless bulbs of different sizes and colors, Meryl swore that she caught glimpses of shapes within the cloudy cores. But, when she looked directly into the center of the bulbs, all she saw were the blurry outlines of the conductor units, bulky computers that captured the power of the cores and turned them into usable energy. She remembered learning all about the plants in school. The more she learned, the more they became a mystery.  
One large red plant caught her eye and she leaned in over the railing to get a closer look. For an instant, Meryl thought she was seeing her own reflection in the glass. A pair of wide gray eyes stared back at her from within the warm swirling water.  
How silly of me, being startled by my own reflection... she thought.  
Just then the pair of eyes she was staring at, blinked at her.  
Meryl nearly fell off the walkway. The commotion caused Knives to glare back at her.  
"Hurry up woman. I'm not saving you if you fall due to your own stupidity."  
But she barely heard him.  
Was that what I thought it was? A being from outside of time. A plant angel? She thought.  
Meryl shut her eyes tightly, shaking her head to clear it of any visions. Slowly she opened her eyes and looked into the red glowing bulb.  
There was nothing there.  
She thought about the shapes she saw in the little room with the watery cylinders just before she had almost gotten crushed. Just before Knives had saved her. If her assumptions were correct, then...  
"Knives..." she said hesitantly.  
He gave a frustrated sigh and turned, giving her a scowl.  
"What is it now!" He barked.  
Behind him, the reflecting light from the numerous plants spilled over the architecture of his body, making it look like it was a ripple in the water itself. Meryl remembered the cylinders of green liquid again. Those bulky floating shapes...  
"That room I was looking in earlier, before you...saved me, well...there were clear cylinder tubes of...something. I didn't get a good look, but they seemed to be...specimens...of..." she stopped, unsure of how to continue, "I'm not sure, but they looked...like...um...well..."  
The silence lay heavily over the room.  
"Plants."  
"What?" Meryl wasn't sure she caught his words.  
"They were plant specimens. What you saw were the disembodied parts of plants, or plant angels as you call them." Knives did not take his eyes from the railing. "What you saw were the severed limbs of my brothers and sisters."  
Meryl felt dazed from the blow of that information. It took some control to overcome the feeling of sickness rising in her throat at the memory of those lifeless floating appendages, like dead bloated fish in a stagnate pond.  
"Why..," she started, "who would...do such a terrible thing!"  
Knives gave a hard laugh.  
"Who do you think, woman? Your species is the only kind that destroys without meaning."  
Humans? Humans did something so horrible?  
Meryl could only stand open mouthed from the shock of his statement. She couldn't imagine anyone doing something so horrific. She thought she had seen the worst of human nature on her journeys with Vash, but this was far worse than anything she had ever seen or imagined.  
Poor Knives, she thought, at least I think I understand him a little more. His anger...that I can understand.  
"Don't assume anything you can't fully comprehend, human." Knives answered her thought without looking at her.  
Meryl looked shocked. She had forgotten about his little mind reading trick.  
"You know, it is really annoying when you do that," she said sulkily.  
"You have my abject sympathy," Knives said sarcastically.  
Meryl could've sworn she heard him smirk that time.  
Tucked away in the back of his mind, he couldn't help but feel  
slightly touched by her reaction. No one else had ever cared. "We're here."  
Meryl looked up. They had stopped in front of a row of bluish green looking bulbs. The water inside the tilted plants was dull and gray and no light came from them. Knives did not hesitate, but began climbing up the scaffolding to the right of one of the bulbs.  
"What are these?" Meryl questioned.  
"Healing plants." Knives replied as he reached the upper landing.  
"Really?" Meryl found herself climbing up after him. "I've read about these, but no one I know has ever seen one before! It looks like it hasn't been activated in a long time, are you sure it wor......"  
She stopped short when she reached the upper landing.  
Knives had striped off all his bandages and tattered clothes and was standing with his back to her, completely naked. He was busy punching buttons of the old dusty control panel next to the opening of the plant. The multicolored light from the surrounding plants shimmered and gleamed off his pale skin, causing him to glow. Meryl swallowed hard, her pulse suddenly jumped.  
"What are you waiting for woman, get over here. I need your help." Knives said impatiently. Glancing behind, he noticed she was looking apprehensive about approaching. With a smirk he added, "Don't worry, I'm not going to try to 'attack' you again. Clothes just get in the way inside a plant."  
God, her reaction is amusing. I hope I've a chance to do this again, he thought mischievously.  
Biting her lower lip, Meryl slowly approached the computer display, trying hard not to steal glances at his exposed body. In the harsh light, she could clearly see the extent of his injuries. It was amazing he was still able to walk.  
"This is the command display for the rejuvenation plant," he explained, "you must wait until I am inside and fully hooked into the system before initiating the activation sequence, this button here." He pointed toward a large green button. "When the max output levels have reached the 95% bar, here, punch the finishing sequence, here. The oxygenation levels should decrease, and the bulb should drain on its own. By that time, in exactly 4 hours and 36 minutes, I should be completely healed."  
"How do you know I won't try to kill you once you're in that plant and helpless?" She asked calmly.  
"You won't." He said, dismissing her.  
"What?"  
"You already told me about your idiotic need to keep me alive," Knives continued as he began climbing into the opening of the plant, "and I'm still alive. So, I know you won't kill me now."  
Meryl frowned, his cock sure attitude only added to her anger. She tried to find a scathing insult or comment to throw at him, but could only say, "Don't be so sure, Knives!"  
Knives merely gave her a cold laugh.  
"You humans are so predictable. Find your motivation, your deepest desire, and exploit it. That's exactly what I did with you. Your blind devotion to my idiot brother was too good of a chance to pass up. You'd risk your own worthless life in order to please him. No, you won't kill me. You can't."  
With a final biting comment, Knives slid into the harness of the plant machine. His naked body gleamed in the dark pool of water surrounding him. The wounds on his body hissed at the contact of the liquid and he grunted in pain.  
"Close the top off and start the activation, now," he said through clenched teeth.  
Meryl sighed and stepped away from the plant.  
He's right, she thought, I can't kill him. Even if I wanted to.  
Her thoughts went back to Vash and how he stubbornly refused to kill no matter what the circumstances.  
"Stupid broom-head," she muttered, "you're rubbing off on me."  
The bright buttons blinked on as she pressed the activation sequence Knives had instructed her on. Soon the plant began to fill with fresh clear liquid and slowly began to glow blue. Meryl watched as Knives was completely immersed inside the glass bulb. The straps and harnesses designed to hold a person in the device nearly covered his body completely, so Meryl was saved the embarrassment of gaping at his exposed body again. 4 hours and 36 minutes.  
"Man," she sighed, plopping down on the landing, "this is going to be a long wait."  
  
Knives eyes closed as soon as the weightless substance in the plant engulfed his body completely. The liquid surrounding him was neither cool nor warm, but a pleasing mixture of both temperatures together, and he was surprised at how weary his body really was. It had been an excruciating few weeks, first the battle with Vash, that crummy little house afterwards, and then the journey to the plant ship. Stress of that kind his body could take, but it had been the stress to his mind that had worn him out the most. He began to think he should have left that bothersome woman where he had found her, or better yet, wiped her out with the rest of that scum during his escape.  
But no, it was because of her that his plans would be realized. Vash would come here because of her. He needed her to complete the mission. Or was it...  
It was all too confusing right now. What he needed was rest, then his mind and body would function perfectly again, free from confusion and impulse.  
He closed his eyes again, and drifted off.  
  
Meryl leaned her head against the metal railing next to the plant Knives was now healing in. The metal was cool against her forehead, and she realized just how tired she was from her ordeal. Closing her eyes, she stretched, trying to relax her sore muscles.  
"If I survive this, I'm taking a vacation." She grumbled.  
Wearily, Meryl tilted her head and looked at her kidnapper's calm and helpless body, suspended in the cool liquid of the plant next to her. Knives image rippled slightly from the gently lap of the water inside, the muscles of his arms and back gave him a sculpted look that was very attractive.  
Ugh! Stop it Meryl! She scolded herself, blushing slightly.  
But Meryl couldn't help being caught by his face. Asleep, he looked completely peaceful and at ease.  
"He looks so innocent right now," she said to herself, "Hmm, it's hard to believe that he was the cause of all that unhappiness Vash went through a few months ago. Could he really have destroyed the human race?"  
In a flash, the memory of him standing over the mangled bodies of the Locos Gang, blood and bullet holes riddled the dim room of their old house. Knives had looked so different back then.  
Meryl sighed heavily. It had been so long since she was alone with her thoughts. He couldn't eavesdrop on her now.  
Any person with an iota of intelligence would have leapt at the chance to escape, to just run out of this decaying ship and away to their freedom. Or better yet, kill the vicious plant while he was vulnerable.  
There was only one problem. Meryl was not acting on her intelligence; she was acting on her heart.  
Normally she would have found that unusual, but ever since she met Vash, acting on her heart had become a matter of habit.  
Vash.  
Meryl hugged her knees to her body, closing her tired eyes only to see him in her thoughts. She wondered where he was, what he was doing, if he cared at all about her and how she was. It had been so long since she had last seen his face. Things had been a little tense before between the two of them, and she wished with all her heart that she'd had the courage to simply tell him her feelings that night in the kitchen. But she had missed her chance. She wrapped her arms around her shoulders, trying to remember the way he held her then. The way he had ran light touches up her arms and down her back. Touches, which had seemed willfully restrained, but which had also seemed to want to give more, and take more too.  
The blue of the plant reminded Meryl of the clear sky blue eyes, which had looked into her own with such intensity the last time they had seen each other. The feeling of him encasing her small body in his long arms, and the warmth of being pressed against his chest in that tight embrace still made her heart beat quicken. His strong hands around her waist and behind her neck. He had actually stroked her hair down to her neck a couple times, or at least that's what it had felt like. He said very little to her, just to be careful. But his eyes. His eyes always said so much more than his mouth ever could.  
Or perhaps it had all been in her imagination. Maybe he had no feelings for her other than as a friend. If he did find her in this place, it might only be because he came after his brother. And not her.  
I don't have a choice, do I, Meryl thought, because, even if he'll never love me, I'll always...love him. So, I've got to stay true to my word, and to him. Even if I have to go through the fire because of it...  
The iron railing she was leaning on was getting uncomfortable, so Meryl wearily dragged herself to the edge of the platform and laid her coat down on it. Stretching out on the fabric, she gave a final look at the man suspended in the liquid of the plant not two meters away. In the distorted light of the water, she could almost pretend that Vash was there, close by.  
She closed her eyes and fell asleep.  
  
At first the dreams were very ordinary.  
The time on the SEEDs ship when they had their first birthdays. Lying in the grass of the rec room and gazing up at the artificial sky. Hours spent in the archives, studying the history and sciences of the universe and it's creatures. All pleasant, peaceful memories.  
But slowly, the darkness crept up on him. Steve beating him to near death. Learning the truth behind the humans' migration, the first plant angel, the human's plans for the PTD, suspicion, death, fire, explosion, the wasted dead planet, the pain of the gun wounds in his body. All pain, all sadness, all death.  
And then nothing.  
Knives stood alone, in a world erased. His body weightless, suspending in the vast white of a universe wiped clean. For a while it was nice, not thinking, not feeling, being completely unattached and uncaring. Resting in the vast white nothing.  
But nothing lasts forever, he thought.  
Just then, a small current zinged through his body, like the pain of an electrical shock. Knives shut his eyes to block out the sensations. A second later, he opened them, only to find himself floating in the deep blue waters again.  
Am I back, in the plant. he thought. But no, he wasn't hooked up to any device, as he had been when he fell asleep. Nothing was nearby, just the dense dark waters. He raised his head upward. A small red dot of color throbbed in the distance, near the surface, and again his body was jolted by a tiny shock of pain.  
"It's that damn dream again? Knives thought. But, if I'm dreaming, then why does that sensation, that pain, why does it feel real?  
Again, the red light flashed in the distance. Again, he jumped, but this time, the shock was bigger, as was the pain. Knives felt slightly panicked. Somehow, he knew what he had to do, reach the surface and find the end. The red flashed, another shock.  
Is that what's at the end, only pain? It didn't matter.  
Knives gritted his teeth as another shockwave went through him, the red light pulsed again. Glaring upward, he began to climb.  
  
Meryl stirred. For the first time in a while, her sleep had been deep and dreamless. But the hard mesh landing was just too uncomfortable anymore. Frustrated, she flipped over on her back, flinging her arms up over her closed eyes to block any light getting in.  
"What I wouldn't give for a nice soft bed again," she groaned, "I'm gonna look like I slept on a tennis racket when I get up," she felt the crisscross metal landing under her, despite the thick jacket she was lying on. This was no good. That stupid metal button on the back of her collar was digging into her neck uncomfortably. It must have just come out of the lining. Sifting for a better position, Meryl rolled to her side, and tried to clear her mind.  
She concentrated on the black world behind her closed eyes, it was dark and deep.  
Just then, in the corner of the darkness, Meryl thought she saw a pulse of red light. And then again. The beat of light was steady, like the blinking of an electric device on the edge of the blackness.  
"Stupid machines..." she muttered, half asleep.  
Machines...the plant machine!  
Meryl was sitting up in an instant. Had she overslept, was the healing process inside the plant complete?  
"Shit!" She spat, tripping over herself to get to the control panel.  
The green display blinked calmly up at her. 3:12:27..28..29...  
"Hmmm, it's only been 3 hours. It shouldn't be done yet."  
The thrumming in her chest subsided a bit as she checked Knives status on the monitor.  
"Ugh, I have no idea what half this stuff means..." she huffed.  
From the corner of her eye, Meryl caught the same pulsing red light that woke her up. It was coming from the plant itself. When she glanced at the bulb and the man inside she gasped in shock.  
The entire plant was glowing brightly and throbbing with a vivid red light from the central unit. The normally still blue liquid was stained with the red glow each time it pulsated, making it look like it was filled with...blood.  
Movement from within the structure caught her attention.  
"Knives?"  
Something was wrong.  
It was hard to make him out clearly, but it looked like he had wrapped his arms around his upper body and tucked his legs up to his chest. In that fetal position, he looked like a baby in the womb. Vulnerable. Each time the light flashed, his body tensed and writhed in its cocoon. Meryl ran to the bulb.  
"Knives?" She yelled, pounding on the glass.  
His face was distorted in pain, but he was still clearly unconscious. Every shot of red light seemed to be sending a jolt of electricity through his fragile body.  
"Knives! Wake up!" She had to wake him up, get him out somehow.  
The control panel to her right began lighting up furiously, and a high warning alarm sounded.  
Meryl took one look at the status indicators and gasped.  
It was killing him.  
  
Next time on Edge of the Sea: Chapter 9 Gifts and Rescues 


	9. Gifts and Rescues

CHAPTER 9: GIFTS AND RESCUES  
  
The sinewy blonde outlaw peered cautiously into the darkness that surrounded him, every fiber in his lean body tuned to detect any hint of danger. He was filled with grim determination. He had never felt such a sense of urgency.  
He was so butt lost.  
"Damn it!" he grunted, punching the dry wall of the cave. The sand trap he had slipped into seemed to be connected to a vast system of underground caverns. Oddly enough, the tunnels were all lined with dim overhead lights, some of which had long burned out, but a stubborn few still gave out a weak blue light. This must have been an old mine at one point. The light threw shifting shapes up on the walls, giving it an eerie feeling.  
As Vash picked his way through the rocks and craters in his way, he couldn't help but think about what he was going to do when he finally caught up with Knives.  
What would he do? What would he say?  
How am I going to save him this time? he asked himself.  
Can you save him? His brain responded.  
Does he want to be saved?  
"Shit! This is too confusing! I don't know what I'm suppose do when I see him." and then there was Meryl. How could he save her without hurting his brother? He wanted to ask someone what to do. If Rem were here, she would know.  
"Rem?"  
But Rem wasn't here. He had promised himself that he would look for his own answers in the future, but now that the future was here, all he wanted to do was look to somebody else. He hated thinking about the past. And he hated the way Knives made him remember things that should have been buried long ago.  
"Why are you leading me back there, Knives?" he voice echoed off the hollow tunnel walls. "Why there, again? What are you planning to do?"  
The last time Vash had been inside the central plant ship was ninety years ago...  
  
"Knives! Knives stop!" the younger Vash yelled out, trying desperately to keep up with his brother.  
"Then hurry up slow poke," Knives called out over his shoulder.  
"Why are we here, Knives?" Vash continued to pout, "You know I don't like this place, it's the ship SHE was on when she died."  
"Tch," Knives huffed, "aren't you over that yet?" he scrambled up the iron grating and began prying open a heavy set of doors which had the word P.L.A.N.T. written across them in block letters.  
"Besides," he grunted as he pushed the doors apart, "we've been neglecting our real family, brother."  
The connecters sparked suddenly and the doors slid soundlessly open, filling the dim passage with light. Vash held his hands up in front of his face to shield his eyes from the brilliant glow. The light burned Knives eyes but he refused to look away. He strode purposefully into the massive room, lined with plants of all different shapes and sizes.  
When Vash felt his eyes finally adjust to the light, he focused on the room himself. Knives was already halfway down the path, and heading toward the central plant.  
"Wait up, Knives!" Vash followed along doggedly.  
They walked on until they had reached the base of the plant itself, a humongous blue plant that filled the middle of the room completely so you couldn't see from one end to the other. Knives was already fiddling with the monitor on the plant's control panel.  
"I remember this one," Vash said quietly, "I remember Rem telling me about it. It was important. It was suppose to help us make our new planet a home," his eyes began to water. Knives listened grimly to his brother's pathetic rambling, determinedly working at patching back into the computer of the plant above him.  
"Rem loved this place. She used to call it a flower garden, remember?  
  
"Shut up! Don't you realize by now that the woman you called Rem was just using you, using us? The only reason she was 'nice' to either of us was to lull us into a false sense of security. She was the real monster, she and those pathetic humans."  
"You're wrong, Knives! Rem was good! Humans are good! Yeah, humans make mistakes, but all of them have the ability to right their wrongs, don't you see! I loved Rem, and you took her away! She died to save us!"  
"She died to save her human species, you whining baby. This," he hissed, pointing to the open file on the monitor, "was what she was planning to do to us, to YOU."  
Vash wiped the tears from his eyes and looked at the plant's main display. His face widened in shock as he took in the information glowing benignly on the monitor.  
Vash suddenly felt the air had been sucked out of the room.  
"No..." he chocked out, his voice swelling in pain, "I don't believe it. That can't be right."  
"It is right, brother." Knives said more gently than before. "I first saw it eleven years ago. The file is unchanged. This is what those filthy spiders were planning to do to us all along. Do you understand now why they all must die?"  
Vash fell to the floor. For a moment, he was silent, too stunned by the sudden revelation to speak. Knives sighed and sat down next to his brother, his only family, on the cold floor. He spoke softly, head bowed.  
"Do you understand, Vash? The reason the humans took care of us when we were little was not because they cared about us. All the talk of peace, and creating a new Eden, and...love. It was all a lie. A lie, designed to trap us, to use us. None of them cared. None of them ever loved us."  
"Rem did," Vash said defensively, "Rem loved me and you, she told us both, Knives."  
Knives eyes flashed dangerously as he quickly stood, fists clenched, "Rem was the worst out of all the humans! It was her ability to fool you so completely that made it easy for her to control you. Look at you! The stupid bitch has been dead for over a decade and you're still spouting her nonsense! Open your eyes, brother! Look at the screen! Don't you see what she intended to do to you? How can you say she loved us?!"  
"I don't beleive that Rem would do that to us! No matter what you say! She loved us! She saved us!" Vash was on his feet now.  
"She saved us only to kill us later! Her love was a lie! She was a monster!" Knives reached his breaking point and lunged out at Vash, knocking him to the floor.  
It only took a second for Knives to feel the remorse of his action, looking down at his brother on the hard floor.  
Why? Why must Vash always make everything so difficult? Didn't he see the truth? In the entire world, all they had was each other.  
Why could they never be at peace?  
"Come on." Knives said quietly, offering his brother a hand up, "We should find a place to camp for the night. I think there's an old storage compartment over in..."  
"You're the monster..."  
He barely heard his brother's comment, but it stopped Knives in his tracks.  
"What?" he asked, paralyzed.  
Vash sat up, but refused to look at his twin, "I said, you are the monster, Knives."  
It was at that moment, both plants knew, they would never be able to convince each other of their very different points of view.  
Each brother would walk his own path, and he would walk it alone.  
  
Vash drug his sleeve across his wet face, wiping the tears away that stained his handsome features. The more he thought about the old plant and the possibility of Knives actually using it, the more he felt he had to get there without delay. If his brother were crazy enough to really activate the PTD machine, then nothing he could do would stop the destruction it could wreak on the humans. And Meryl...she would die.  
A sudden vision flashed in his brain of a small dark haired woman in white, and deep violet eyes, which were filled with fear. If what he suspected of Knives plan came true, then Meryl's life was in jeopardy. He absolutely would not let that happen to her. He couldn't lose her, not when he had just found her.  
"Gotta hurry,"  
He could tell by the gentle upward slope of the tunnel that he was almost out of the cave system.  
The only good thing about the situation so far was that he hadn't had any more of those disturbing dreams. Not that the first part of the vision wasn't enjoyable, but he dreaded the ending. Still, sleep seemed a distant and nerve wracking ordeal whenever he had to stop to recoup.  
"Only dreams, stupid," he berated himself, "It's dumb to be scared of a dream. Besides, there's no way they could have ever been real. For one thing, Knives can't stand being in the same room as a human, let alone..." he swallowed, "It's just ridiculous."  
Vash realized with frustration that the dreams had made him jealous, extremely jealous when he thought Meryl's affections lay somewhere other than with him. She had always made it pretty clear that she liked him, even though she wore a tough girl exterior around him most of the time.  
However, there were times when he could plainly see her inner struggle to hide her feelings. The way her skin would blush across her face and neck, and the way her eyes would focus on anything other than him when she was close.  
He'd been reliving the time when they were alone in the kitchen. Sitting there, distraught over Knives and sobbing like a little kid, she had walked in on him. Any other girl would have been turned off at the sight of a grown man crying, but Meryl had nothing but kind words and support for him.  
And she held him. Well, threw herself on him was more like it, but still, it had felt...nice.  
NO, it felt glorious! An aching need began beating through his blood. Vash felt himself wanting to hold her again, to sit her on his lap, her arms wrapped around his back, the delicate feel of her bare skin on his own scarred body, and the way they had melded together sitting there, fitting perfectly into each other as if by design. Just a little bit longer and he could have felt her lips. He had wanted to at the time, but things had just been too complicated then. There was always Knives to worry about.  
So he decided to give her a "gift" instead.  
He knew he wouldn't be able to be with her at all times. She would have kicked him out of the house for some peace and quiet for starters.  
Still, he knew of something else he could do for her. So the very same night when he and Wolfwood had gone out to the bar and left Meryl alone with his brother, Vash had planted a small button shaped device on the back of her jacket collar as he embraced her on the stoop. The device was called a neural inhibitor, sometimes refered to as a "blocker", and it had been used on the old ships to steam the flow of mental force that leaked out from the plant machines. It would, in a sense, absorb and relay all strong mental energy back to the source, thereby making it impossible for the person wearing it to be controlled or damaged.  
From the mental kickback he felt from Knives a while back, he guessed that his brother had already tried to control Meryl and she, unwittingly, sent his energy right back at him. A pretty powerful kickback too. He could bet Knives had one hell of a headache after that. Vash could only pray that his sibling hadn't discovered the little piece of lost technology yet, or that Meryl hadn't tossed it, or, god forbid, gotten it wet, but the chances of that were petty much nil.  
Last I checked, Meryl doesn't shower with her clothes on, Vash grinned, remembering the one time he'd snuck a peek and nearly got his head ripped off for his shannanigans.  
Rough gravel scraped past his hand as he felt the passageway narrowing and begin to climb upward more rapidly.  
"This must be close to the mouth of the cave!" he gasped and rushed foreword.  
As he rounded the corner, a small patch of light appeared far off in the distance. Elated, Vash picked up his pace, nearly making it to the exit when...  
Pain.  
Intense searing pain exploded inside his head.  
"Auugh! Shit..what nnuhahhh!" bright light burst in his vision. His hands groped the air, searching for a hold, but found none. Falling to his knees on the hard ground, he took huge gasping breaths to ease the grating of his brain. It felt like his body was being torn apart from the inside.  
"What...what i-is this?"  
Then, as quick as it had hit him, the pain was gone.  
Vash gaped, wide eyed at the ground. What was that? He checked his body quickly for any bullet holes or wounds. None. The pain had apparently been a reaction to something through his neural connection. A link to something, or someone...  
"Knives! No!!"  
  
Calm.  
Blue.  
Water.  
His body floated in a weightless dream.  
That dream...that God Damn Dream! It wouldn't leave him alone! What the hell does it mean?  
Knives scanned the area slowly. As usual there was nothing except the soft rippling waves of blue tinted water in which he was submerged. Over his head, a faraway light glinted off the surface of the water. It was beckoning him...mocking him.  
This time, he reached out for the far off light, this time I will get there. I will see the end.  
At first, the dream played out like it always had. Knives started to kick himself forcefully up toward the surface until he felt the violent pull and push of the water as it became the whirlpool that tried to suck him down to the bottom again. He fought and finally pulled himself free of the suction. Upward he climbed, closer to his goal. A small ache beat in his limbs as he pumped his muscles to their limit.  
Suddenly, a pair of hands grabbed onto his ankles and began dragging him back to the whirlpool. Knives heart began to beat wildly in his chest. He did not want to look behind him, because he knew what he would see, but somehow he couldn't help himself and turned his head.  
Again, he saw his own eyes staring back at him, cold and bleak. The hands gripped him tighter. Knives kicked and fought against himself, clawing the water in a desperate attempt to get free. A cry of anger tore through his throat.  
"I WILL SEE IT!" he roared and gave one final kick. It connected with a sickening crunch and instantly he was loose, his body floating up once more. He was almost there. It was so close now that the nearby light made the surrounding water glow with a soft purple color. Knives could feel his body ache in protest, the pain in his muscles becoming gradually more insistent with each stroke. But, he couldn't stop, he had to see it, see what was waiting at the edge of this dream.  
CHOOSE...  
Knives froze...  
...a voice...  
"What..." his eyes darted quickly around, but there was nobody there. Did he imagine it?  
CHOOSE...  
There it was again. A woman's voice, deep and rich. Again Knives searched and again he saw no one. His fists clenched nervously. There was something unsettling about that voice, almost...familiar. He tried to remember but nothing came. There was no one there. He was alone.  
He was always alone.  
Knives floated motionless in the purple liquid, eyes closed, feeling for the presence of another person in his strange place. He felt nothing. He listened, and heard nothing. Perhaps it had been all in his head. Looking up, the light filled his eyes. It was so close, just about a dozen feet or so.  
Keh, he thought, who cares about a stupid voice. 'Choose'...it didn't make any sense, choose what? There's nothing to choose in this place. Knives narrowed his eyes and began to swim up again. The light was getting brighter. Then...  
CHOOSE...  
Before he could spin around it hit him.  
Pain.  
The pain hit him with the speed of a bullet. It erupted through his body and tore through his soul, making his limbs crumble and shrink in on themselves. His mouth opened in a silent scream that was too painful to voice. All around him, the water pressed in, cutting off his air, crushing his body. His teeth felt like they were being ground into dust he was clenching them so hard. Madness...  
It's a dream...a dream...a dream...a dream...wake up... he chanted in his head. But the dream refused to loosen its grip, and the pain was so real. Knives managed to raise his eyes. The surface was just inches away, if he could reach up his hand he would be there.  
"Gaaaaaahh!"  
It was no use; the pain would barely let him move a finger.  
CHOOSE...  
"Aauughhhhhh!!" he screamed again. The voice echoed and shook his brain until he felt like the contents of his head were being splattered out across the wide expanse of angry water.  
His body was slipping into darkness as his breathing began to get slower and shallower. His fingers twitched as he felt the pain get farther away, like an echo, and he knew he was dying. His body was shutting down, saving him from the pain by killing itself.  
The purple water darkened to blood red.  
My blood? he wondered dully.  
CHOOSE...  
The voice was far away. Knives vision began to blur and the red light trickled down before him as if it to was bleeding. Darkness began to creep in from the corners. For a fleeting instant Knives saw his brother's face, sad and distant in the light, his blue eyes filled with tears. However, Vash was not crying over him, but over all the people Knives had murdered.  
"Vash..."  
But Vash only looked down sadly at him, turned and walked away. Knives heart constricted painfully.  
Not even Vash, his own brother, his only family, would save him. He was truly alone and the weight of that knowledge crushed his heart. Nobody would help him, because nobody cared about him, and those who had said they did were only lying to use him. His whole life, he would never love or be loved. At that moment, with the surface of the water so close, Knives lost his will to exist.  
I wish I'd never been born.  
CHOOSE...  
"I choose to die..." he whispered. Knives closed his eyes and exhaled for the last time, floating down to the dark death below him.  
Suddenly, a pair of strong hands grabbed him under his arms and began lifting him toward the surface. Knives barely was aware of the water rushing past his limp body as it speed upward. The light became brighter until finally it burst out in front of his vision, blinding him with its radiance. Knives raised his head just in time to see the surface of the water speeding toward him.  
It was there; he thought with elation, he was going to see it after all! He reached up a weak hand to touch the surface!  
There! He had broken through!  
He felt the cool breeze of the open air on his wet arm and face when the light gave an enormous pulse, flashing out across the water, blinding him with it's brilliance. Knives shut his eyes to shield them from the piercing rays.  
The first thing he saw when he opened them again were two large lavender eyes staring back at him. For a moment he thought he was still dreaming. Then he blinked and the face above him came into focus.  
The woman.  
She was hovering over him. The red light on top of the plant directly behind her, made her glow around the edges like an...angel. Knives could see her mouth moving but couldn't hear any sound. It looked like she was calling his name, her face etched with panic and concern.  
"Knives...Knives...!" he heard her voice from faraway. Gravity slowly returned to his aching body and the cold metal grating under him solidified. He was dimly aware of the throbbing pain in his limbs. His brain, however, was still having trouble trying to process what was happening.  
Why? Why couldn't he see beyond the edge of the water? What was she doing here? Why did his entire body feel like it had been run over by a sand steamer? The plant should have healed him by now...  
The plant!  
Knives let his head droop to the side and looked at the plant machine. The red waning light was whirling and pulsing madly on the top of the system. Inside the bulb, the unit he had been strapped into was a mess of wire and broken metal that looked like it had melted onto the central column. The entire glass side of the bulb was smashed in and the liquid LCL was still trickling out and on to the floor below. It almost looked as if the plant had exploded from the inside...but..  
Knives glanced down at his own arms. No, he didn't have any scratches or bruises, so he couldn't have broken the bulb. The pain in his body was gradually beginning to disappear leaving him exhausted and he rolled himself over on the landing.  
"Stop, Knives! You shouldn't move yet!"  
Knives turned groggily toward the woman. She was leaning over him with a look he recognized as...concern. Ridiculous...or maybe...  
That was when he noticed her appearance. Her hair and clothes were soaked and dripping wet. She was panting for air and her cheeks were flushed like she had just run a mile. She'd shed her large overcoat and collared shirt and was only wearing a small white undershirt. In one hand she held a thick twisted piece of metal. Knives eyes widened when he realized what had happened.  
The woman had smashed the plant, gotten inside somehow and pulled him out. She saved him. Meryl had saved his life. He choked. She had saved him when no one else would.  
"Why..." was all he managed to get out, staring at her in shock.  
"Heh..." Meryl laughed wearily, still gasping for air, "Because...you stupid...jerk...it's what Vash...would have done..." she sighed with relief, "I...told you I can't...let you die while your...in my care..."  
Meryl collapsed against the railing, her head flung back and her eyes closed in exhaustion. Knives could only stare. He heard what she said, but he'd also been listening to her mind when she answered his question...  
...Why?...he had asked. And she had clearly thought,  
Because...I wanted to...  
Knives closed his eyes and let the darkness claim him.  
Far below the landing, Meryl's white collared shirt lay in a puddle of liquid. From within folds of the material, a tiny electrical spark crackled and fell silent.  
  
Next Time on Edge: Chapter 10 Trusting and Doubt 


	10. Trusting and Doubt

CHAPTER 10: TRUSTING AND DOUBT  
  
The history of man is progress.  
The wheel. The horseless carriage. Locomotion. Flight. The splitting of the atom. Rockets. Computers. Genetics. Space travel. Holograms. Artificial Intelligence. The Internet. The cure for cancer. Solar power. Nan technology. Travel by light speed.  
The plants.  
The greatest human achievement and the pinnacle of our civilization.  
It was also our greatest mistake and the single cause of mankind's near destruction.  
Until recent events, the individuals and actions leading up to The Great Falling of the human race from their place among the stars has remained a mystery. However, people have continued relying on the plant technology, trusting it and fearing it at the same time. No one really understands what the plant is or how it creates its power. The implications of a plant as a sentient being are unnerving, so most people don't think about it. The plants have become a necessary evil and most humans simply ignore the gigantic glass bulbs hovering over their quiet little towns.  
And the most powerful plant in existence has fallen from our collective memory.  
The PTD, Planet Transformation Device, was created just before the great migration began from the old Earth. Its purpose was to transform the terrain of any atmospherically ideal planet into an environment similar to that of the Earth before its decline. In the PTD's core, a new program was installed which would enable the plant to pull its energy, not only from the angel within, but from surrounding plant angels as well, thus creating the vast source of power needed to fuel the nuclear and chemical reactions for the transformation. The beauty of the plant-powered device was that no living beings on the new planet's surface would be adversely affected once the reaction was set in motion.  
The PTD was hailed as a miracle.  
The only thing this miraculous device needed was a link.  
Since it depended on simultaneous plant angel connections, the main system needed a live plant to create the links to all of its kind. Efforts had been made to extract angels from their plant cores, but such experiments had always been disastrous and the angel had always died.  
Shortly before the PTD was designed, an angel was unexpectedly born that had the ability to survive outside the glass bulb. A girl, whom the scientists on board named Tessla. She was put through dozens of experimentations before she wasted away under their needles and knives, finally giving into death and dissection.  
After Tessla, there were several other plant angels born outside the cores. The whereabouts of many of these specimens remains unknown, though most were believed to have perished in the great fallout one hundred and thirty years ago. A pair of twin male specimens, however, had been documented to be on the PTD ship itself just before it fell.  
It is noted that several complaints were sent in by the twin plant's guardian, a woman named Rem Saverem. Her letters protested the intended use of one of the twins as the link for the PTD machine. Saverem argued that the twins were sentient beings capable of the same range of emotions and thoughts as humans. The governmental branch in charge of plant regulations dismissed her outrage as "mother hen" syndrome, saying that she had grown too attached to the specimens to be objective.  
For you see, in order for the PTD to activate, the plant serving as its link is absorbed into the system itself.  
In effect, the plant angel is eaten.  
  
The small room was dark and warm. The only light came from the half opened door through which the dancing light of the plant machines fell, reaching its way across the room to the dusty box spring mattress pushed up against the far wall, and the person laying on top of it.  
The rusty metal springs squeaked in protest as Meryl rolled over and opened her eyes. Lavender irises slowly adjusting to the dim light of the tiny storage room she had brought Knives to after his near death experience in the plant. She glanced to where he was lying, asleep.  
After Meryl dragged the unconscious Knives down the landing and a dozen or so feet to the storage room and flung him on the old mattress, she had been so exhausted that she flopped on top of a second mattress and fell straight asleep. The room had apparently been converted into a makeshift bedroom some time ago, and Meryl wondered what had happened to those original redecorators and if they were still around somewhere. It was surprisingly comfortable and soft. Meryl stretched her sore muscles.  
For once, she had not dreamed of Vash or Knives or anything stressful. Instead, Meryl had a dream about swimming in the deep blue ocean. She could clearly remembered the feel of waves caressing her skin, though oddly she had never seen an ocean much less swam in one. She remembered reading about them in picture books when she was a child.  
I guess it really doesn't matter, she thought, it was just a nice dream.  
A small stirring brought her back to reality and she sat up in bed. Knives grunted and shifted on his mattress in the shadows. Meryl slid off her bed and padded over to him. She was still only wearing her thin- strapped undershirt and white work skirt. Her boots, jacket, and collared shirt had been shed before she climbed into the plant to save Knives, and she had thrown her jacket and shirt over his naked body when she laid him down for a quick covering.  
Standing over him, Meryl stared down at the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed steadily.  
His face is so peaceful right now, she thought.  
The tattered white jacket and shirt barely covered his muscular body. When she had dragged him to this side room she hadn't had time to notice he was naked, but now, as the twinkling light played across his cut chest and chiseled features, Meryl couldn't help but notice how handsome he was (when he wasn't talking, glaring, or bringing about the end of the world). The smooth skin had sealed itself while he was in the plant and she couldn't see a blemish or scar on his body.  
Asleep, he had the same peaceful expression on his face as he had when she had mistaken him for Vash back at the Inn. Sitting by his side, gazing at him as she had done then gave her the sudden urge to touch him again. With a blush, Meryl felt herself wanting to kiss him. She shook herself.  
Please, Meryl, she groaned, get a grip.  
Still, she hovered over the sleeping man, unable to take her eyes off him.  
There's so much about him, and Vash, that I still don't know. They've both been through so much pain. So many scars, and yet...I think Knives is the one who suffered more from scars on the inside.  
Meryl felt sympathy for the plant fill her heart. She knelt down next to the makeshift bed and spoke softly.  
"I don't know what I would do if I were you, if I watched my entire race dying at the hands of another," her hands strayed to the hair that partially covered his eyes, brushing it gently aside.  
"Maybe I'd go a little crazy too..."  
Meryl suddenly pulled her hand away when she realized it had traveled of its own accord down the length of his face. The skin was smooth and pale.  
Hypnotic.  
She felt her own skin grow warm and she bit her lower lip as she eyed the tall figure wrapped loosely in her clothes.  
Dangerous? Yes.  
Psychotic? Most definitely.  
Handsome? Without a doubt. His broad muscular chest, which rose and fell in time with his deep breathing, tapered to his sinfully thin waist, down past his narrow hips and long legs. One arm rested behind his head and the other lay across his stomach, both slender and toned. His spiky short hair didn't have the same golden gleam as Vash, but the white blonde color gave him an older, wiser appearance.  
You'd never think someone who looked this good could have been bed ridden for the past couple months, Meryl leaned on the corner of the bed lightly so not to wake him.  
I wonder what he'll do when he wakes up? He said he was waiting for Vash...just like me.  
Her fingers found his hair again.  
Why are these two so different? Knives is nothing like Vash. Why does he hate us so much when Vash would die for us? What made Vash the way he is? What made Knives? He must be so lonely. As she mused the differences between the two plants, she was barely aware of her hand trailing down his shoulder and arm, lightly brushing the skin on his hand.  
"Knives...I wish there was some way I could help you..."  
In a trance, Meryl leaned her head on his arm and closed her eyes; the nearness of his body gave her an oddly comforting feeling.  
She had noticed a strange trust developing between herself and this unique man, even though they started out hating each other, he had spoken and reveled more to her than he had to his own brother in recent days. Meryl came to value that trust. They had saved each other more than once, and even though he kept saying he was going to kill her, she was having a harder time believing those words. She hadn't heard him call her a stupid spider in a long time, even if he never used her real name. If only she could break through his rough exterior, maybe she could find a way to help him.  
If only she could get him to really trust her, maybe she could help Vash to change his mind.  
Vash...  
She felt a little guilty when she realized she had been thinking about him while she was this close to Knives. But it couldn't be helped. She'd never get Vash out of her mind. He was the one she loved.  
Exhaustion slowly returned to her body and she pressed her face closer to his warm skin, breathing deeply.  
Perhaps she would find the answers in her dreams.  
  
Several minutes ticked away before the man on the bed stirred. His brain felt completely muddled. He didn't remember who he was or where he was, but he soon decided he didn't care.  
The first thing he was aware of was comfortable warmth, which was settled on his right arm. Something silky and smooth was leaning on him. He lifted a weak hand and touched the object. Satin soft strands met his fingertips and they slid easily across it. He cupped them in his hand, enjoying the unusual feel. He could feel another layer underneath which was warm and supple. Again the pads of his fingers caressed the surface, feeling its many curves and bumps.  
There was something strangely familiar about this thing laying on him, but he didn't care, he liked its presence and decided it could stay as long as it wanted.  
Moving farther down his fingers met two incredibly soft ridges, slightly moist and parted. Warm air flowed out from these ridges and he placed his fingers gently along the inside edges, feeling the moisture gather on the tips. He felt the object react to his touch and close the wet ridges over his finger as something warm and wet from inside of it brushed the penetrating pad.  
A tiny thrill vibrated through his body and he stretched involuntarily, sighing at the pleasant sensations coursing in his blood. The warm object moved, pressing itself against him. He grabbed it with his other arm and pulled it to him, holding it close.  
So soft.  
Feeling like he had never known such peace and warmth before in his existence, he stroked whatever it was, eliciting a sound from deep within it.  
Like a sigh...he listened lazily. It sighed again...  
..."Vash..." it whispered.  
Instantly Knives threw open his eyes. His memory came pouring back into his brain.  
Vash!  
He remembered, he remembered everything.  
Feeling a stirring over him, he glanced down and his eyes widened in shock.  
The human woman was half lying on the bed, her head and arms draped across his body, holding onto him gently. And he, to his horror, had one hand resting on the bare upper part of her back while the other one cupped the back of her head. His fingers lightly tangled in her dark hair.  
From somewhere in his memory, Knives saw a flash of naked skin. Her body as it pushed against his, riding the waves of passion and need. Head flung back in a silent scream and his own hands molded to her body as if he was a sculptor and she was the clay. Slickness and heat...  
She stirred again and half opened her eyes.  
Knives couldn't move. He was frozen to the spot.  
The warmth of her body began to burn him, as she lay unmoving on his chest. That fucking dream came back to taunt him. When she spoke, the vibrations made his fingers curl.  
"What...," she said sleepily, "what are you doing?"  
"..." Knives could not seem to find his voice.  
In a second Meryl realized their awkward position and practically jumped off his stiff form, her face shinning red in embarrassment. Shit! She hadn't meant to fall asleep on him.  
"S-sorry," she stuttered, "I was, uh, checking up on you and I, uh, must have f-fallen asleep."  
Knives tore his gaze away. If they hadn't been in a darkened room, Meryl would have sworn he was blushing, but he just continued to stare at his hands on his lap.  
She moved forward a little, "Are you ok?"  
A muscle on his face twitched, but Knives did not respond.  
Meryl could feel the embarrassment settle through her body. She decided to change the subject as quickly as possible, shuffling her foot against a crack in the floor.  
"Um...you're really lucky, you know. A few more minutes in that plant and you'd have been a goner. I checked the readouts before I brought you down here. It looks like one of the power couplings malfunctioned and caused a system breakdown. It's not surprising, I mean, these things are over a hundred years old. It's amazing any of them are still up and running."  
Still no response.  
  
Meryl sat down on the edge of her mattress, arms crossed.  
What was wrong with him? Why was he being so sulky? He should at least look at me when I'm talking to him. I just saved his life for crying out loud! Shit, that really pisses me off! she thought, her embarrassment making her testy.  
Ungrateful bastard.  
"That's ok, Knives," she said sarcastically, "no need to thank me for saving you and dragging your sorry butt down a flight of stairs, you only weigh a couple hundred pounds after all."  
Nothing.  
What's the matter with him, she thought, he should be screaming at me right now, threatening to kill me slowly and painfully or something like that. Is he still hurt? Did the machine do something to him? Worry crept into her mind.  
"Um...are you all right?" she ventured, reaching out to touch his shoulder.  
When she did he jumped as if her fingers burned him. Instantly he came back to life.  
"Don't...touch...me." he hissed, slapping her hand away. His eyes snapped up, scorching fire into her as he swung his legs over the side of the mattress and sat up.  
"Sorry, I was just checking to see if you were alright," Meryl frowned, inwardly relieved that he was moving and talking, even if it was only to yell at her.  
Knives regarded her coldly for a moment.  
"Checking?" he responded grimacing, "You, human, were doing a bit more than checking. And if you ever puts your disgusting hands on me like that again, I will rip them off!"  
"Excuse me?" Meryl puffed up in anger, "I'm so sorry Knives, but as I seem to recall, you were the one with your hands all over me! So you just watch who you're pointing fingers at mister!"  
"Woman! Don't think for a minute I would ever want to touch your decaying human body! You make me sick, you and ALL of YOUR KIND! I'm repulsed even being in the same room with you!"  
Meryl drew herself up to her full height. How dare he! After everything she'd done for him! And here she could have simply let the out of control plant suck the life from him, but no, she'd risked her own life to save his.  
She shouldn't let him get to her; after all, he was just trying to get a rise out of her.  
But despite her rational brain, his words were like a knife in her heart. It was important for him to trust her, to like her somehow. But he didn't, and she hated him for it. She lashed out at him with all the strength she could muster.  
"Really, Knives? Is that so? Well, I can't stand the sight of you! You're a selfish little boy with a huge chip on your shoulder. You don't care about anything or anyone!"  
She was yelling at the top of her lungs and advancing on the surprised plant so aggressively that he actually backed up on the bed before he knew what was happening.  
"You talk about killing the spiders to save the butterflies, and how we humans are uncaring evil creatures who take and hurt and kill! But, you, Knives! In living out your insane ideology, you've become the biggest spider of all! You're such a hypocrite! You could never be as good and pure as Vash because you don't love anyone and you won't let anyone love you!"  
Knives back hit the wall behind him, but he hardly noticed. Something about what she was saying made it difficult for him to think of a come back.  
"I could never love someone like you! You're a mean, angry, violent, lonely old man, Knives, and I don't care what you do as long as you LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!"  
  
Somewhere, out in the hot dry desert dunes, Vash the Stampede felt his heart clench. He tipped his round glasses up farther on his nose and stared across the sands to the ancient space ship in the distance. The pain in his heart told him nothing about what was happening inside the old wreck, just that his brother was hurting. Hurting badly. But this time, the pain felt more internal than external. Like despair...but...  
"What's happening, Meryl?" he mouthed.  
Almost there, Vash increased his pace, worried about what was happening between the two people inside.  
  
"Just leave me the hell alone!"  
Her voice echoed in his ears.  
Knives was about to open his mouth for a comeback, but a sudden squeezing in his chest stopped him. He forced his head down, so she wouldn't see him. It felt like his heart was having trouble pumping the blood through his body. Each pound left a hollow constricting ache that made his head spin and his eyes sting.  
What had she done to him? Had she slipped something into his food?  
No. She wouldn't have done that, he decided, so what...  
A memory of when he and Vash were children came back. Vash had been so distraught over the thought of losing that human woman that somehow, his pain over the image made hot liquid come out of Vash's eyes. Both brothers had been shocked at this physiological response. Rem had called them tears, and she said people did things like that when they were sad.  
Was this the kind of emotion she'd talked about?  
Knives could feel the clench in his chest release slightly.  
What does it mean? he felt slightly panicked. This strange emotion scared him. It felt too much like it had when Vash had shot him and then abandoned him in the desert. But she hadn't shot him, just yelled at him. It didn't make sense! She'd yelled at him before and it hadn't hurt. Why now? What had changed?  
Why did it have to be her?  
  
Knives head was down, his eyes focused on the ground.  
Meryl backed away and turned to face the doorway. Time ticked by unnoticed as the small town insurance girl and the tall ageless plant sat in quiet contemplation. Each of them trying to figure out the other one and not making any headway.  
Soon, the woman sighed and muttered softly, "Why won't you let me help you?"  
Silence sat heavily in the air. Each of them facing opposite sides of the tiny room, refusing to look at each other.  
Not expecting a response, Meryl was surprised when he spoke.  
"Why would you want to help me?" He asked, barely audible.  
Meryl half smiled, "I don't know, I just do."  
"Because you're trying to trick me?" He questioned.  
"No." She came back quickly.  
"Because you want something?"  
"No."  
"Because it's what my brother would do?"  
"NO."  
"Then why?" He asked, unable to fathom any other reason, still feeling the ache in his chest.  
"Because I want to, " she said simply and honestly.  
Her voice still rang in his head from earlier, when she had pulled him from the plant...  
("Why"... he had asked...)  
("I wanted to..." she had said...)  
"Why..." he asked again. Somehow, she understood what he was asking.  
"I think it's because I understand how you feel, even if you think I don't." Meryl said quietly.  
Knives was baffled. For some reason, he felt the hard iron walls around his soul buckle just a little.  
Doubt plagued him.  
For once, Knives afforded himself a moment of calm consideration.  
He never had anyone to talk to about anything. Yet, talking to her was having a strange effect on him. For the first time in a long time, Knives felt like he could talk. A silly sentimental idea, but still... He stared at the long cracks running through the wall in front of him, trying to wrap his brain around the foreign concept of this woman helping him with no underlying selfish motive. He'd never shown her anything but contempt. He'd kidnapped her for Christ's sake! She should rejoice in the prospect of his death. And yet, she wanted to help him. And he didn't think it had anything to do with his brother. Why? Sympathy?  
"I don't want your pity." He spat at the wall. He wasn't ready to let her see his defenses completely down.  
"I didn't say that, Knives! I just said I think I understand the reasons behind your actions and why you feel the way you do."  
Understand him? How could she understand him...when he didn't even understand himself?  
"Ignorant human. I'm a plant. You could never understand me."  
"Maybe not completely, but we're more similar than you think we are."  
"Tch." he scoffed.  
Even with his outward cover, she could tell he was opening up a little, and if she could somehow influence him long enough to either change his mind or delay him until Vash got there...Meryl pounced on the opportunity.  
"Is it so hard to see? We both want the same things in the end. Peace for our kind, right? Instead of killing each other, why can't we work together to get what we want? Wouldn't that be the logical choice?"  
The rational side of Knives brain couldn't help but see the logic of her statement. He had to shake his head to regain control. How was she able to do that, when all others had failed, how was she able to have that kind of effect on him?  
He traced one of the cracks on the wall. It reminded him of a timeline, or a family tree. Something he had never known, something he'd given up on long ago.Why am I doubting myself now? Can I carry out my plan of using the PTD plant...if I have to use her?  
"Can't you just trust me?" she pleaded quietly.  
Trust.  
The word ripped at his memory.  
I've never trusted anyone in my life, he thought. To trust means to be eventually betrayed.  
Ever since he convinced himself that Rem had betrayed him and his brother, his trust in other people had disappeared. All these years, those who served him, those whom he commanded, they had all been puppets. There had been no friendship, no trust. Even the plant angels he was able to communicate with made no real sense. They didn't understand why he lived in the stream of time and therefore didn't understand him.  
He was always alone.  
Part of him hated the loneliness.  
And now...  
Now she had offered him a chance to break the binds of his loneliness. He could still remember the soft feel of her in his arms. And for the first time in over one hundred years, he almost felt he could trust this human woman.  
She helped him. She suffered for him. And most importantly, she was honest with him. No lies. She told the truth even when he might have killed her for it. She could not hurt him, but then again, it was her choice to protect him.  
He didn't know if the plants and humans could live in peace, but maybe he could live in peace with one of them? She cared, she trusted, she feared, she...  
"Knives?" he heard her question, and he could hear all those things in her voice.  
Just for him.  
  
As he started to turn around to face her, his hand slipped through her jacket and he felt a sharp stab in his index finger. Normally he would have paid it no mind, but as he looked at the sharp piece of metal sticking out of the collar of the shirt, his eyes narrowed.  
"What is..." his fingers pinched the bit of scorched metal from her jacket collar. The top of it had popped off and the insides of the little device were visible. Knives stared at the small computer chip embedded in the button, his mind was spinning. He hadn't seen one of these since his childhood.  
A blocker?  
How did a blocker get here of all places? Why was this woman carrying such a valuable piece of lost technology, and why? The only uses for this thing involved blocking the excess mental energy from the larger plant systems and...  
...reflecting them back on the plant...  
Knives couldn't breath. The world came crashing down.  
So that was how she did it. That was how she was able to resist his mental persuasion. That was why his own energy would shoot back at his brain when he tried to control her. She had the blocker the whole time.  
Why didn't' she tell him? She was hiding it from him, and that meant...she didn't trust him. Suspicion clouded his judgment. She had a blocker to trick him, to make a fool out of him.  
And if she had a blocker, she knew what it would do to him. If she had a blocker, she must have planed this. She must have known it would hurt him and that meant...she didn't care about him.  
Here she was, talking of helping him, of caring about him. And she was just like the rest of the humans. She never cared. All she wanted was to buy some time while Vash was on his way to rescue her. Knives felt his heart ice over and die.  
She didn't care about the plants.  
She did not care about him.  
She was a monster.  
Just like Rem.  
  
He was Betrayed, again.  
  
"You bitch! You fucking human bitch!"  
He turned on her, shaking with barely controlled rage.  
"Knives...what are you..." she was used to him calling her names, but she'd never heard him swear like that. No intelligence, no thought, just blind rage as he screamed.  
"Shut the fuck up! You thought you could trick me, didn't you?"  
"What?" What was he talking about, "I never..."  
He advanced menacingly, ignoring the twisting pain in his heart.  
"You were smart," he held up the burnt piece of metal to the light so she could see, "All the time I was looking for your weaknesses you were looking for mine...biding your time...and this," his eyes sparked dangerously as he focused on the little scrap metal. It began to vibrate between his fingers, "I wonder how you got your filthy human hands on a blocker?"  
Utterly confused, Meryl reached out her hand for the object, trying her best to reason with the deranged plant, "Look, let me see it and I'll tell you if I know what it is, alright?"  
Before she could react, Knives said evilly, "You want it back, do you?" And the little piece of metal shot like a bullet through the palm of her hand, embedding itself in the wall behind her.  
Meryl screamed in agony and clutched her hand against her body. Blood was streaming out over her white skirt and down her legs as Knives slowly advanced, dropping the clothes she had covered him with on the ground. He made sure to step on them roughly as he backed her up to the cold wall.  
"I have to compliment you, spider, you almost had me taken in. Almost had me believing that sentimental garbage you and my idiot brother like to spout so much."  
"Stop, Knives! Think about what your saying! I don't know anything about that stopper or blocker or whatever you called it. I don't know anything about that stupid lost technology! Why won't you believe me?!"  
"Believe you?" he seethed, "I'll never believe you or your kind again. You and that conniving woman and my fucking brother can rot in the hell you created for yourselves! I almost believed...I wanted to..." he trailed off, grimacing as he remembered the escape from loneliness that had been within his reach. She...she had dangled it in front of his face and then robbed him of it. Just like her. Such cruelty...  
"Knives...please...trust me..."  
He met her with stone cold eyes as he spoke.  
"My mind is clear again."  
  
He was too fast for her to follow.  
Cutting off her breath he grabbed Meryl around the neck and slammed her up against the hard wall. Holding her by the throat, he pinned her to the wall. Meryl choked and sputtered, her feet barely touched the floor. The blood from her injured hand trickled freely down his arm. She was practically standing on tiptoes in order to keep her neck from snapping.  
The world spun out of control.  
She managed to gag out, "V-vash...vas..sh..."  
Feeling like a blade had been twisted in his heart, Knives bristled and his eyes blazed with fury. Everyone always called on Vash, the favorite, the chosen brother, "How dare you call to him, you piece of garbage! You say you care about me and then you call on him!? I'm the one with your life in my hands! How dare you!"  
He hated her, hated his brother, hated the pain of loneliness he'd never share with anyone, hated his fate and the whole fucking world. They could all just die.  
Through her pain, Meryl was shocked to see hot tears streaming down his face as he choke "Go ahead, scream his name, plead for him, he doesn't save everybody, you know that don't you. He never tried to save Tessla, or our siblings! Fuck! He couldn't save his own brother, so why the hell would he save you?"  
Meryl only stared at him in mute terror. He was making no sense.  
"He was a lie, just like Rem, just like you, and just like everyone else! How dare you call for HIM! After you made me believe that...after you...after I..." Knives felt something in his chest shattering, "GOD DAMN YOU! YOU'RE A LIAR LIKE ALL THE REST!"  
He sent a violent wave of energy toward her, making her crumple her to the ground.  
She screamed as his mind ripped through hers, unchecked, tearing and shredding her subconscious apart. Not wanting to kill her right there, he let her mind go, panting for air.  
"You will not stop me from fulfilling my mission. My reason for existing. I WILL wipe out the human race, and YOU will help me do it."  
"K-kn-nives..."  
"Get up."  
She couldn't stop herself.  
Knives face distorted insanely as he bared his teeth at her, watching her try to fight him and fail. This frail little human had brought so much doubt and trouble to his mind; he would play with her a little before the end. Repay her for her "kindness".  
She had caused him to feel emotion. Pain. He would make her pay for that.  
Like a cat toys with a mouse before he devours it.  
Meryl's eyes widened in horror as he leaned in, placing his arms on either side of her head, trapping her against the wall. Her throbbing head dimly remembered the fact that he was still naked.  
He's really gone crazy, she thought.  
"One man's insanity is another man's reality," he chuckled, hearing her thoughts, "You wanted to play with me before, didn't you spider, while I was sleeping? So, go ahead...play."  
He trailed a finger lightly down her cheek and tipped her chin up to his. Meryl could feel his moist breath on her face as his fingers drew a line down her neck and across her collarbone.  
"Or maybe I'll just play with you?" He hissed.  
As if giant strings were attached to her arms and legs, Meryl began operating like a marionette. No matter how hard she tried, she found that she couldn't control her own body anymore.  
Nothing she did could stop her hands from moving down his chest, her fingers splayed out against his tight skin, sliding over the contours of his abdomen. And they weren't stopping! Meryl held her breath and gasped. But before they reached all the way down, her hands jumped back up his sides, coming around his back and sensuously rubbing him. The heat coming from his body was intense. As her hands unwillingly caressed up and down his back, she could feel Knives breathing heavily. They were so close, every time he inhaled his chest brushed up against her breasts. She could feel his hot breath against her neck.  
  
ILLUSTRATION: TESTING YOU (http:ation in his eyes and she pleaded with him mentally to stop all this madness.  
A heartbeat, and the moment was gone, and Knives was coldly glaring at her once again as he spoke.  
"It's time. Move."  
  
Next Time on Edge: Chapter 11 Choose and Pain of the Past 


	11. Choose and Pain of the Past

Chapter 11: Choose: Part I (Pain of the Past)  
  
Vash stood in front of the fallen spacecraft with the decaying word SEEDS written along its outer hull in chipped red.  
The wreckage of the tall ship loomed over his head, like some gigantic beast rising from the dead. Its rusty double doors yawned open like a gapping mouth, ready to swallow him alive. Inside the belly of this monster whale was something he had been avoiding for the past hundred years, and it had finally caught up to him.  
"Damn it, Knives," he whispered, "you knew I'd have no choice. You know I can't let you do it...especially not to her. That's why you took her, isn't it?"  
The thought of Meryl inside this monster was almost too much. She'd done nothing to deserve this. If anything, he should be the one in there instead of her. He had to get her out of there alive, if only to finally tell her that he...  
He grimly pulled out his old gun, the determination etched into his features.  
"You always caught onto things quicker than I did, Knives. You were always one step ahead of me so I didn't figured it out until it was too late. Well, this time I'm going to be two steps ahead of you and...I WILL do what I have to do."  
Vash eyed the plant ship ominously for a moment before raising his gun and cocking it. He closed his eyes and thought,  
I'm here, Knives, and I'm not afraid.  
There was no reply, but somehow he knew his brother heard it.  
Vash stood on the edge of a blade, eyes fixed on the door. Memories filled his mind as he bravely stepped towards the black mouth of the ship and reached out to touch the hull. This was the ship he had grown up on, the ship that Rem had died on, the ship that held prisoner the only human woman besides Rem he had ever cared about, and the ship that might mark the end of his own life. It all began and ended in this one place.  
"No regrets," he said with conviction, and walked in.  
  
It took his eyes a while to adjust to the dim green glow from the plant buds, but soon he could make out the long twisting corridor ahead. Regretfully, he knew exactly where he was, and visions of his childhood came back uninvited as he began to hurry through the ship.  
The room to the left had been the study where he'd spent countless hours reading and learning about the humans and Earth, their old world.  
The next room on the right was the dining hall. Vash's legs carried him faster and the rooms passed by in a blur.  
The common room, the living quarters, the rec room, the navigation room, the food storage, and...  
...the laboratory.  
Vash halted as soon as he saw it.  
He knew he shouldn't stop but something pulled in.  
It was something out of a horror story. The remains of an earlier plant angel were still floating in the green liquid tubes as the room hummed with energy.  
He should be hurrying to the main plant room, but he couldn't help it. This was where it happened. Where he and his twin had finally separated. Vash reached out to touch the cold thick plastic of the nearest tube. Inside, a rotting ancient eye stared unblinkingly back at him.  
The memories came suddenly, pulling him back through time.  
  
Thirty years after The Big Fall, the brothers had taken to living in the SEEDS main plant ship. They had been there for almost two years now. Vash disliked it, but Knives seemed to be enthralled by it.  
The twins were in the laboratory, surrounded by the green glow from the bud lights and the specimen tubes. Vash looked over his shoulder nervously at the tubes. Parts of Tessla still floated serenely in the gelatinous liquid, although most of it was beginning to decompose due to air leaks in the tubing. It was an eerie room that Vash had always hated. But Knives had been spending allot of time in here recently. It housed the main computer for the plant room down the hall.  
In fact, Knives had been in here fiddling with the main control system when Vash walked in.  
"Damn thing has been deactivated for so long, at this rate it'll take years to recharge," he scowled, flipping the switches on. A gentle hum resonated from the pipes above telling him that power was now on its way to the plant room again.  
Vash tore his gaze away from the grotesque tubes and looked to where Knives had redirected the ships auxiliary power.  
His eyes widened as he saw the neon letters P.T.D. light up on the panel.  
"Knives! We talked about this! You can't!" a thirty-year-old Vash pounded his fist onto the dusty table.  
Knives looked at him with barely concealed disgust.  
"Tch." He spat. "You talked about it, I never agreed to anything. You were always so soft with these human pests. This is for our own good! All we need to do is wait for it to recharge itself."  
"But, if you use it that way all of them will die! This planet will die!"  
"You think I don't know that?" Knives bristled, glaring dangerously at his brother, "The death is only temporary, the planet will return to life after the humans are wiped out."  
He returned his gaze to the monitor and his eyes softened a little as he touched the glowing screen.  
"I know this machine," he said quietly, "almost like...I can feel it. It's part of my destiny, I know it is. I'm the one who will save this world and countless others. I will save the plants!"  
"No one has the right to take the life of another, Knives. Don't you remember what Rem said?"  
Knives whipped around, his face instantly contorted in rage.  
"Screw that self-righteous bitch and her lies! She was going to kill us! Kill me!"  
"She wouldn't do that." Vash said stepping toward his brother, in defense of his mentor.  
"I saw the log! How can you deny the truth?" Knives countered until they were almost nose-to-nose.  
"Because I trust her."  
"You've always been a fool, Vash. Of course YOU trusted her, YOU were her favorite!" Knives shoved Vash back against the rickety lab table. Mechanical instruments clattered to the floor as he ranted. "A little dog following at her heels, it was disgusting! Of course she wouldn't have had YOU destroyed!"  
"You're wrong about this, Knives." Vash replied sadly.  
The pain and frustration had been building ever since he discovered that damn log and it weighed down on his brain. Nearly twenty-eight years of mental torment. Everyone who ever said they cared about him had all been lying, they had all betrayed him.  
And Vash, his brother, didn't seem to care. Knives felt the anger grow within him, rising to a dangerous new level.  
Vash took a step towards him.  
"Knives...?"  
Suddenly Knives lashed out, causing Vash to skid back across the room and slam into the solid steel wall. He would have heard his siblings bones crack if he hadn't been screaming himself.  
"YOU weren't the one they were going to kill, because YOUR name wasn't in the log book, only MINE! I was the one she wanted to kill, not you! I was the one she wanted to stick in that murder machine! It was MY name on the charts!"  
The room rumbled with the sound of vibrating metal, as the horrid green tubes bubbled and the electrical outlets sparked and hissed. Vash was slumped against the wall as the dust from his impact began to settle over him. He weakly opened his eyes.  
Knives was crouched down on the ground, a hurt expression on his face.  
"How could you understand how I felt?" He said sadly. "She always loved you the best. Everyone did..." He collapsed against the console, shoulders shaking with rage and barely contained emotion.  
Vash grunted as he tried to pick himself up, his bones screamed in pain. He managed to choke out an answer.  
"That's not true, Knives, Rem loved you, and she told you so."  
But Knives had already turned his back to him, his arms clutched around his body and his head turned to the ground.  
"Vash." he whispered, barely audible. "How can you not understand? You're my brother! How can you defend her...over me?"  
"I'm not! I just don't want you to kill anyone!" Vash pleaded.  
"There's an easy way to stop me." Knives looked coldly at his brother. "Just get in the machine yourself. Be the link and save the precious spiders you love so much."  
"Knives..."  
"Or maybe you'd rather see me in there?" Knives rose, anger flooding his features again. "Do you want to see ME absorbed into that machine?"  
"No! I don't want that either!"  
"Then stay out of my way. I WILL fulfill my purpose on this cursed ball of dust!"  
Knives shot a wave of directed energy at the power console causing the monitor to blow out in a blinding flash. Vash's arms shot up to shield his eyes, but all he heard was his brother's maniacal laughter.  
  
"Stop it!" Vash screamed into the echoing room.  
The console monitor lay broken and dead on the floor, covered in years of dust and dirt.  
Vash blinked once. His hand was still pressed to the Tessla's tube and the room had returned to normal. He felt anger rise up into his chest.  
With inhuman strength, Vash the Stampede heaved the heavy LCL filled tube onto the floor, smashing it and it's contents into tiny particles.  
It wasn't right.  
Nothing mattered anymore except getting to Meryl. Vash looked once more at the mess of glass and organic material.  
That's all that will be left of her if I don't hurry, He thought as he sprinted out of the room and down the corridor. He remembered the one thing Knives had told him that day before their fight.  
If a plant were put into the PTD the planet would be restored, reborn. A new world.  
Eden.  
But, if a human were to be inside the link the energy would not flow properly, but would reverse itself. It would spill out over the world like a viscous cancer, killing everything in its path that didn't have the power to shield itself.  
Instead of a rebirth, it would cause complete destruction.  
The death of whoever was inside the machine...  
...and the end of the world.  
  
Meryl struggled against the bonds that held her arms and legs in place. She was strapped to the central column in that huge blue plant she'd seen earlier, and was trying desperately to get loose. Knives had released his grip on her mind after he was sure she couldn't move and had gone to punch up the control panel.  
"Knives! Knives! You don't want to do this Knives!" She vehemently argued with him. "Vash will be here anytime! You just got healed, you don't want to get shot full of holes again, do you?"  
"This time, I will not be the one who ends up full of holes," he replied darkly.  
"What will this accomplish, Knives? I'm just one human. Is this just to get back at Vash?"  
Knives leaned in menacingly making Meryl's breath stop and her heart pound in fear.  
"Once I activate the machine," he drawled slowly, "it will kill you."  
Meryl started as she felt his hand trace the damp skin of her collarbone while he talked, "It will try to fill your fragile body with power, but you won't be able to handle it." He teased up and down her bare arm. "The energy will start to break apart your bones, and then your muscles will disintegrate." His fingers caressed her face gently. "Finally your skin will crack and fall apart until there's nothing left of you. It will be a most agonizing death."  
She couldn't help but cringe at the way Knives colorfully described the gruesome death in store for her, but she knew she had to stall for time. He obviously thought she no longer posed a threat. She forced herself to keep talking and keep him distracted as long as she could.  
"And it's all to get back at Vash?" She finally managed. "You put yourself through so much just to kill me in the worst way possible?"  
"Not just you, spider. Once the energy tears you to shreds it will continue to build. However, without a proper conduit to redirect the flow it's power will increase exponentially. One living being is needed as a link. Without one it would just explode, so you see, I do need you, but not in the way you think. Getting back at my brother will simply be an added bonus. He will see you die and it will finally break him. But he won't just see your death. The freed energy will cover this planet and in the process wipe out every living thing on it!"  
Meryl stared in disbelief. "You...you're crazy!"  
The tall plant swung himself down across the central column until he was hanging in front of her. He grabbed the metal supports on either side of her head and leaned in until his body was almost flush against hers. The heat from his long form burned intensely.  
"I have waited so long for this day I will not stand down." He hissed into her face.  
"But...but you'll die too." Meryl pleaded. "When the plant is activated you will die in the blast with the rest of us!"  
"No, I won't," he continued, moving closer so his lips nearly touched her ear. "You see I have the power to redirect the flow of energy. I will survive and create the true Eden."  
Meryl shivered at the unexpected brush of lips, but just as quickly pulled back, not allowing him to play with her anymore.  
His eyes flinched slightly as she meet them coldly.  
"Eden?" She said sternly, "You'll be an Eden of one, Knives. No one will be around to share your Eden. It's going to be your Hell instead."  
Knives pressed his lips together and pulled away, watching her with an unreadable expression.  
"Doesn't matter." He said quietly. "I'm used to being alone. Eden or Hell...what's the difference?"  
Meryl found she couldn't answer. Her heart was filled with so much fear and pity at the same time; she didn't know what to think.  
"And Vash?" She asked in a shaky voice.  
"Vash will have to choose his own path. He can choose to survive or to die. It matters little to me."  
"I don't believe that Knives!" Meryl said forcefully.  
"Shut up," he snapped at her, eyes blaring.  
"He's your brother, you must love him!"  
"I said shut up!" He barked louder.  
"It's true, otherwise you would have already killed him! It's YOU who's afraid! You don't want to be alone DO YOU?"  
"SHUT UP!"  
In a flash his hand shot out, smashing into her face and knocking her head against the hard support behind her. Meryl saw stars as she reeled from the blow. Still, she managed to slowly turn back to the killer plant. She had to keep trying.  
"He loves you, I know he does. And I know that somewhere deep in your heart, you care about him as well."  
Knives felt his defenses buckle, too shocked by this woman's illogical thinking to remember what he had been doing. She knew next to nothing about him, and yet she was able to find his darkest fear and lay it out in front of him for all to see.  
What she said about him was true. He was afraid, afraid of the time spent alone. To be left completely alone would be the only Hell he knew, and he'd lived it for so long.  
Vash had chosen to leave him in that Hell to go and play protector to the humans. His brother chose those humans over him, just as Rem had chosen Vash over him. In Knives mind, those were wrongs that could never be righted, even if he had to endure the Hell he would create.  
"Too late..." he breathed, feeling the finality of what he was about to do.  
"Why don't you let him help you?" Meryl searched his face.  
Knives bent his head so she couldn't see his eyes.  
"I don't know why we have to always be at odds with each other." He spoke slowly. "Why can't he understand? This is my destiny. It could be...I don't want this fate...maybe I...have my doubts...but..."  
He lifted his eyes to her face one last time and opened them enough for her to see his confusion and despair. The endless years of self-torture and hate spilled out, and Meryl had to bite her lip to keep from crying.  
"...but...I...I have...no...choice."  
In another second he was gone, climbing up the scaffolding on the inside of the plant toward the control unit just outside.  
"Knives!" Meryl screamed, struggling with all her might against her restraints as Knives calmly climbed the ladder to the landing down above.  
He punched the control panel and liquid LCL immediately began to fill the enormous plant bulb.  
Meryl's eyes darted around her prison, searching for someway to save herself. The only thing without restricted movement was her head. She craned it to the side. From the corner of her eyes she could see Knives, numbly flipping switches.  
He's forcing himself, she thought.  
A coiled object caught her eye as she squirmed in her bonds. Several thin black cables curved around the main column and were hooked into the metal grids that held her shoulders in place. The cables looked like simple power uplinks and they were just within the reach of her head.  
There's no other way... she grimaced. Saying a quick prayer and bracing herself, Meryl strained her neck forwards and latched onto the cables with her teeth. She jerked her head once and heard the outlets sizzle but hold firm. Vash, give me strength. Taking a deep breath, Meryl yanked with all her might and felt the cables pull apart from their jacks.  
Instantly, her body was filled with sharp pain as the electrical sparks zapped out across the expanse of the PTD bulb. For a second she felt like a kid again, rubbing her little red balloon across some shaggy carpet to feel the tingling static electricity it created. But this time, her entire body vibrated with the force of the shockwaves. Her teeth bit down deeply into the heavy plastic of the cord.  
Before she passed out from the jolt she thought, I can't die before I see him one last time...  
  
Knives jerked his head away from the console and stared at the veins of electric bolts that ran crisscross patterns across the half-full bulb. He stopped the calibration of the plant and ran over to the landing.  
The woman had somehow managed to pull out the connecting power cables. Not only could she have killed herself in the process, but also without those power cables the flow of energy would not reach the link. The energy would not convert and the resulting explosion could take out the whole ship.  
"That damn brainless woman!" He growled.  
I hope she isn't hurt.  
Knives' expression froze from the sudden thought that betrayed him.  
But for some reason, when he saw the tiny human woman teetering between life and death inside the massive plant, he had an undeniable urge to save her. And he realized that his first thought at the landing had been hope. Hope that she hadn't been hurt. Hope she was still alive.  
"Why...?" he hissed.  
What kind of hold did she have on him? Why was there still a nagging doubt in his mind?  
Doubt.  
The doubt was being to eat away at him. His self-confidence in the plan was wavering more than ever. He faltered, turning away to hide the confusion etched on his face. It was all going too fast now, these feelings in his heart threatened to tear him up from the inside. And worst of all was the fear that was now beginning to grow. What if he was wrong? What if Vash had been right all along? And Rem...that would make her right too. And that would make him, a murderer.  
"No! I am right. I have to be! It's what I was born to do!"  
The console blinked on...10:00:00...and counting down.  
The activation process had already begun and he had less than ten minutes to reconnect the power cables. With doubt still heavy on his mind, Knives quickly shinned down the side of the plant to the opening on the side and climbed inside.  
  
Meanwhile, Vash rounded the corner to the ships main plant room. He skidded to a halt just outside and leaned against the doorframe, gun in hand. He tried to slow is breathing even though he knew his brother could find him without the telltale sound. He had already suppressed his mental ability.  
Shimmering multicolored lights twinkled off his guns reflective surface as he listened for activity from within.  
Nothing. The only sound was the increasing hum of the plants.  
Holding his breath, he slipped around the corner and into the room.  
The plant room was just as he remembered it. Beautiful. It was Rem's flower garden from so long ago. A place of life.  
Vash dashed as quietly as he could behind the nearest plant. The PTD was out of his range of sight at the moment, but he decided to get as close to it as possible before making a move. He would not risk Meryl's life on a hasty rescue attempt.  
He made a dash for the next plant and hid once more. Still there was no discernable sound or movement from the direction of the main plant. But Vash could now make out the top of the monster machine, and could clearly see the activation light on top of it.  
Damn it, Knives, you really did start it! he thought bitterly.  
He was just about to make another run when...  
"Knives!"  
The voice was high and defiantly female. That angry tone and piercing frequency were unmistakable.  
"Meryl!" He gasped, and lost all sense of stealth, rushing forward blindly.  
Within seconds the massive PTD was in view, its base rapidly filling with blue LCL and it's power converters humming with incredible waves of energy. The control landing was on the opposite side and still out of his line of sight. Vash hid along the thick base of the plant and began inching around it.  
Zzzzaaapp!  
He was nearly in sight of the landing when the PTD above him gave out a tremendous zap! Thin ribbons of electricity shot out from the cables behind him. Vash leapt away from the base as hundreds of little lightening bolts sparked and cracked through the air, rolling safely out of range but smacking his head roughly on the hard floor.  
After shaking his head to clear it, Vash realized that he was now lying directly on the floor beneath the metal control landing. Bright vibrant snakes of energy were still shooting out across the giant bulb above him. Vash saw movement on the landing.  
There was his brother, holding on to the railing and staring intently at the plant core. Almost instantly Vash could tell there was something different about his brother. He looked so...afraid. What was he looking at?  
  
Vash followed his siblings gaze to the center of the plant and the tiny human woman stuck to the smoldering central column.  
Meryl! His brain screamed.  
Quickly, he made a dash for cover, almost certain that Knives had heard his mind. But on second glance, he saw Knives climbing into the plant himself. It didn't seem like he'd heard anything at all.  
That's odd, thought Vash, he must be too distracted to notice me.  
Fast as a gunshot, Vash raced halfway up the iron stairway. He clearly saw Knives descend to the walkway that spanned the bulb. Meryl was hanging limply from the restraints that bound her to the main reactor.  
God, she looked beautiful and fragile. An overwhelming sense of wanting to protect her filled him. Her delicate hair framed her face, wet from the gushing liquid around her. A trickle of blood ran down her cheek where Knvies had struck her and he could tell her hand had been injured. Vash thought she looked too pale, but he could tell she was still alive.  
Please, Meryl, don't die on me. He prayed.  
The LCL was still rushing into the plant. Vash knew that once it got to capacity, it would be operational. He had to stop it from filling. Above him he could see the blinking neon number sequence counting down already counting down.  
Vash took a step up the stairs, not noticing the rusted hollow look of the staircase.  
CRACK!  
With a loud snap, the support under the step fell away in a shower of metal splinters and rust. Vash grabbed onto the upper railing to keep from falling, but the sound echoed through the room with a rounding clatter.  
"Shit!" Vash jumped up to the next level and faced the plant again.  
Knives was staring straight back at him.  
  
The two brothers held each other's steady gaze for a heartbeat.  
Knives glared at his brother, wondering how he had gotten so far in without picking up on his presence. How dare he show up now, when everything was going wrong!  
The fear and doubt grew.  
Knives had to keep him out until the system was hooked back up. Turning to the hatch on the plant, he focused his mind and the door shut with a crash. He just needed a few more minutes to complete his mission.  
He's neglected his powers, he won't be able to open that door.  
Throwing a narrowed look back, Knives began to climb the central column.  
  
"Knives!" Vash shouted, racing up the rest of the stairs to the landing. A quick check of the controls told him there was no way to stop the countdown.  
He tugged at the hatch on the side of the plant, but it wouldn't budge. Meryl was still unconscious, and Knives was almost on top of her. Panic griped the humanoid typhoon.  
"Stop it, Knives!" He pounded roughly on the glass, "Let her go, now!"  
Knives ignored his brother's plea.  
"I'm warning you, brother!" Vash trained his gun at his siblings head through the glass.  
Knives reached for the cables at Meryl's neck.  
With a bang, Vash fired, blasting a hole through the thick glass of the plant and sending a shower of splintered glass down. Knives stopped, throwing his eyes toward the landing. Was Vash actually trying to shoot him? Quickly he leapt back to the walkway ten feet below.  
"That was a mistake, dear brother," he barked. Knives narrowed his eyes and focused on the metal landing under Vash's feet. The iron vibrated and groaned and suddenly wretched lose from the side of the plant.  
Two more shots rang out before the stairway collapsed with a monstrous crash sending dust and debris everywhere.  
Knives stepped foreword to see if Vash was still there, but as soon as he did the walkway gave a tremendous moan and tattered dangerously. He lost his balance and grabbed onto the side of the structure for support.  
Those two shots!  
"Damn him, he shot the supports down!" Knives shouted before the whole walkway fell with a grinding crash into the sea of liquid below.  
  
He plunged headfirst into the cool blue liquid that was steadily filling the plant.  
For a few moments all Knives saw was the rush of cascading bubbles and LCL. The heavy steel walkway snagged him by the arm and had pulled him down to the base of the plant. Knives struggled madly with the twisted metal, finally blasting it away with his mind.  
He forced himself to focus on processing the LCL into oxygen for his burning lungs. After a couple seconds, he was able to take a deep breath.  
There's only eight minutes left, his heart beat frantically, if I don't reconnect the cables...  
Knives felt panic grip him. He could survive a blast from the explosion of the PTD easily, but not the tons of burning scrap that would fall on him if the ship were destroyed.  
In slow motion his feet hit the bottom of the bulb and he was able to look up.  
All he saw was blue.  
A great expanse of foggy rippling blue and a...a light...a light at the top that seemed miles far away.  
There was something mesmerizing about that light, and the longer he stared the stronger the sensation became that he had been here before. Something about this was familiar.  
Knives pushed his body up, one stroke, and two...  
His brain screamed at him to move, to swim to the top, to swim up to the surface...to get...to...the...edge...  
  
Knives felt his world fall away.  
The dream...  
  
He was in the dream again. But how? Had he been knocked out in the fall?  
Somehow, something told him that this was no dream.  
  
Vash pulled himself out of the mess of metal. His leg burned in pain when he moved and he could tell it had been scraped up pretty bad. Quickly tying it up with a scrap of material from his long black coat, the outlaw staggered over to the plant.  
Meryl was still out, pinned tightly to the column. The entire bottom of the plant was submerged in thick LCL, too thick to see through. The countdown was seven minutes now.  
Where are you Knives? he scanned the murky waters.  
There.  
Vash saw what looked like two feet on the right bottom side of the bulb. In a flash the feet were gone. He was still in there.  
"Shit!" the landing was too high to jump up to, and there was no way he could get the plant to stop filling.  
"If only I could get into the bulb, then I could disable the...wait a minute..."  
Vash's eyes lit up with a plan and he dashed over to the base of the huge plant. It was dangerous, but it just might buy him the time he needed.  
He pulled out his gun and aimed it directly at the glass base of the Planet Transformation Device.  
  
Next Time: Chapter 12: Choose and Attonment 


	12. Choose and Attonment

CHAPTER 12: CHOICE AND ATTONMENT  
  
Again the dense blue world of his dreams encased him. Swirling color and muffled sound covered his senses as Knives looked around slack jawed. There was no denying it.  
Impossible... He thought.  
And yet, here it was. High above him, the control light on the central column spread out across the surface, blinding him to everything above and giving the liquid a sparkling ethereal quality. Like a dream.  
Knives frowned into the murky blue.  
This is no dream... He reminded himself.  
Below him lay the wreckage of the metal walkway, lying where it fell at the bottom of the plant. High above to his left the LCL valve was steadily pouring its contents into the hollow chamber, making gentle waves within. Knives squinted his eyes upwards.  
A rippling shadow fell from the central column high beyond the surface.  
And a sense of foreboding filled him.  
What does this mean?  
Seven minutes...  
The urgency came upon him and he pushed himself upwards. As he swam he tried to remember the order of events in those dreams. Each one had been slightly different, but always he had felt the overpowering need to reach the surface...the edge of the waters.  
But, this time, I know what's there beyond the surface. I must get there or I'll lose everything I've sacrificed my life for.  
Maybe it was simply an odd coincidence and the dream was simply a dream. Knives tried not to think about the last time the dream had come, and the pain that came with it. More than death, he feared the pain and what would happen to him if he couldn't stop it. This time he knew the human woman would not be able to save him.  
Perhaps she didn't want to anymore, after what he'd done to her.  
No regrets.... He thought and tried to focus his mind to reaching the surface. At this rate it would take a little under a minute. He must think of it as a dream...nothing more.  
After all, the first thing that always happened in the dream was a giant whirlpool that tried to suck him down into the darkness.  
Ridiculous. He thought. There is no way that could happen inside this machine.  
  
Vash cocked his gun and aimed it directly at the bottom of the PTD where the glass met the unit's base. With enough precision, he would be able to drain the devices contents without exploding the entire bulb. It was too risky to destroy the whole plant with Meryl unconscious she had no way to defend herself against the flying glass and metal. Better to buy time by impeding the LCL flow.  
The humanoid typhoon took aim where the twisted metal of the walkway rested peacefully across the bottom. With enough luck, he could pull himself up by grabbing onto it from inside.  
  
BANG!!  
Knives jerked his head around. He was halfway to the surface when he heard the sound echo through the chamber. For a second he thought the plant had activated early. But the sound had come from below. Right where...Vash...had been...  
Tiny splintered cracks ran up the bottom of the plant. Grinding. High- pitched grating.  
Knives sucked in his breath. Eyes budging in disbelief, That idiot! What does he think he's doing?!  
Another gunshot and the thick glass exploded at the PTD base.  
In an instant everything above the hole was being sucked downward. The walkway groaned as it became suctioned to the spot where the water was spilling out. Knives felt the vacuum of the whirlpool try to yank him down out of the plant as everything swirled around him like a tornado.  
Knives pumped his strong muscles, pulling himself up. As strong as he was, he made little progress and began to fall farther and farther down into the darkening vortex.  
Just like the dream...  
It's not possible... He thought frantically, swimming with all his might, it's actually happening!  
His tired body fell further. Desperately, Knives' eyes darted around the plant, searching for a way to stop his decent.  
Does this mean...that...all the other parts of the dream...will happen to? Knives didn't want to think about the growing possibility. It must be only a strange coincidence. It had to be...  
But something else caught his attention as he was struggling with the laws of physics.  
The faster his arms stroked the waters to the surface, the farther away it seemed. And with the rapidly falling LCL levels, the plant would never become operational at this rate. Even if he reached the surface, there wouldn't be enough LCL to matter.  
Must increase the output... Knives reached out his mind to the LCL valve high above.  
The heavy metal release valve groaned in protest before it was suddenly ripped off its hinges, releasing the extra store of fluid at an astonishing rate. But even with the extra output, the plant was still draining almost as fast as it was filling. It surprised him how much his mental powers had escalated since he was last revived in the healing plant. They had never been so strong before, almost as if his mind and body were charging up for something.  
But he turned his attention back to the crisis at hand. Knives' muscles screamed in protest as he violently slashed the water around him. Dimly, he wondered what else in his dream would come true.  
What happens next? Remember! Remember damn it! If I can remember it, maybe I can beat it. His brain was racing.  
The blue, the darkness, the whirlpool...  
Before he could think, two strong hands latched onto his ankles and began pulling him back down.  
Now he remembered..."NO..." Knives mouthed, cold with terror, Not possible...  
Knives head whipped around and, for a second, he thought he was seeing himself just as he had in his dreams. The murky liquid swirled around him so much, it seemed like he was looking into an old smudged mirror.  
I won't let you kill her, Knives. a voice echoed in his head. I won't let you kill any of them anymore!  
I know that voice, Knives thought.  
The smoke cleared and he saw his brother's face floating below him, hands latched like iron around his ankles, trying to pull him back down into the darkness below.  
Vash! He growled.  
I tried to reason with you, Knives, but you refused to listen, Vash sent his thoughts as forcefully as he could, You know it kills me to hurt you in any way, but I swear on Rem's sacrifice that I will do what ever it takes to stop you. I won't let you take her away from me again!  
You idiot, Knives hissed, your Rem is dead. The human woman is not her, or do you believe in reincarnation now? He sneered mockingly.  
I know who she is and who she isn't! Vash yelled, yanking his brother back farther and farther as they battled, But Meryl has the same spark of life that Rem had, they share the same soul! And I'll be damned if I'll let you do to her what you did to Rem! I won't let you anymore!  
Knives felt his hand graze the thick glass of the plant as Vash pulled him lower. Don't tell me you have "feelings" for the human, brother? He teased menacingly, but deep down he felt a hot seed of jealousy begin to swell. Don't tell me you "love" the...  
I do. Vash cut him off before he could finish his thought.  
Knives gritted his teeth in anger as he felt the flames begin to grow. Again his brother was trying to stop him, trying to bring him down, trying to take what was his, besting him! The woman was part of his plan and that meant she belonged to him, body and soul. It didn't matter that Vash had found her first; HE would be the one to own her, even if it meant killing her.  
The scarred and battered gunman pulled his brother down with all his strength, down toward the opening at the bottom of the plant. Knives clenched his fists together until the blood misted from his punctured palms.  
I will not be beaten by you anymore! He roared. If he could get out of this in the dream, he could get out of it now!  
Kicking madly, Knives felt his right foot connect with something. Instantly the hands fell away and Knives was free.  
Below, Vash was holding his bloody nose and struggling against the pull of the vortex he had created. Trying to brace himself, he grabbed onto the metal railing of the fallen walkway. The structure ripped free and plummeted towards the hole.  
Quickly Knives reached back with all the strength he had in his mind, causing the metal of the walkway to twist and contort enough to fill the hole at the bottom of the plant. The metal plunger hit the glass with a smack, making the cracked veins in the bulb grow frighteningly tall. The PTD, however much it groaned in protest, held.  
The water around him calmed enough for him to see where he was going once more.  
Six minutes...  
  
Vash lay in a soaking wet heap outside the PTD machine. The metal walkway had pushed him out of the plant before plugging it tightly. The dazed gunman weakly sat up only to have the world spin before his eyes. As soon as the merry-go-round stopped, Vash saw that the entrance to the plant was hopelessly blocked.  
"Where now..." He gasped clear air into his lungs.  
Vash forced himself to his feet and stumbled to the plant. There was only one thing left to do.  
"But, I need a clear shot," he thought biting back bitter tears, "I'm sorry, Rem. I have no choice."  
  
Knives felt his muscles relax as the LCL around him ceased its vicious hold. The way was clear! Nothing stood in his way of reaching the surface and reconnecting the cables.  
However...he didn't budge.  
He was remembering the dream. What came next...  
Knives already knew the answer, and he dreaded it.  
If I move, he muttered, the pain will start. Knives stared blankly into the deepening blue. Maybe...there's some way to avoid it?  
He looked down. Nothing but dark wreckage and death. To the side? No good, there was nothing there. Staying put? No. That would only mean his death when the plant exploded.  
Up? It was the only unknown.  
I have no choice, he thought, even if the pain means my death...I...I have no choice.  
He began swimming up again, and for a short while nothing happened.  
Then off in the distance, Knives began to hear a far away sound. A high keening sound, like the whir of a propeller. With each stroke of his arms the sound grew until if became a thin cry.  
With shock, he realized what was making the awful sound.  
The plants... he thought, but...why? He looked up.  
Above him, the LCL was running out and the power of the other plants was rapidly draining. Knives could hear the other plants off in the distance, crying in confusion and fear.  
The more the liquid was pumped into the PTD, the less there was for the other plants to sustain their vital functions in this plane of existence. At this rate, there would be just enough left for them to survive after the PTD was activated. In the meantime, it was as if the plant angels were being drained of their blood.  
It wasn't suppose to happen this way. He tried to ignore the screams of his siblings, but his insides were being twisted into knots.  
The last thing I wanted was to cause them pain, he grimaced.  
Knives couldn't help but listen to the voices. The sound was heart wrenching, a mass of cries and moans, angry, sad, and filled with pain. He shut his eyes against the cacophony of his own making as he swam steadily upwards.  
Slowly he realized that the voices were beginning to come together, to blend. In a steady pulse they began to chant something. Beyond all reason, Knives strained to make out the single shallow word...  
With a heavy heart, he knew what it was seconds before it was clear enough to hear.  
  
CHOOSE.  
  
"Don't tell me..."  
  
CHOOSE they chanted.  
"NO!" Knives howled, grasping his body tightly against the steady thrumming of the word.  
He'd already chosen! Why couldn't they just leave him alone? He was doing this for them after all, for the future of the plants! Didn't they see that? Didn't they understand?  
Everything he'd ever done had always been for them, hadn't it...?  
CHOOSE  
"SHUT UP!" Knives cried, covering his head and folding his floating body into a fetal position just inches from the surface.  
Why was this happening? Why were the other plants trying to stop him? Whose side were they on?  
It was so hard to hang onto his will to fulfill his destiny. Now the plants filled him with even more doubt. No matter how hard he tried he could not rid himself of the gnawing sense that what he was doing was wrong somehow.  
"Why...are you against me to..." He choked.  
CHOOSE  
"What do YOU want ME to do!" Knives screamed at the rippling blue world around him.  
SEE  
Just as suddenly, the voices stopped, and Knives opened his eyes wide in amazement.  
Surrounding him were hundreds of pale forms, translucent against the shimmering waters. Each figure sprouting soft feathery wings as they gazed sadly at him through wide blue eyes. The creatures were all glowing in different colors of red, green, blue, violet, yellow, and every imaginable hue.  
They were the flower garden.  
They were the angels.  
And they were raising their arms up over Knives, who could only stare in disbelief at his brothers and sisters.  
"Are...are you ghosts..." He whispered.  
The angels breathed in and out as one sentient being and began to move around him, slowly circling. As Knives watched their gentle movement he became lost in the eyes of each passing plant angel and began to see the world of memories behind them.  
He felt himself falling into his own past as his ghost siblings swirled around him faster and faster, pulling him into the past, a place he did not wish to go. The images speed by, too fast to be measured.  
He saw his own birth, he and his brother lying naked on the cold floor.  
Rem saving them both by risking her own life.  
Safety.  
The first year in the SEEDS ship and his first real family.  
Peace.  
The happy hours spent in the Rec Room, planning their new lives on a perfect new world.  
Falling asleep to the sounds of music and birds and the warmth of arms wrapped around him.  
Love.  
And then...pain.  
The first pain of Steve beating him and Vash into bruised and bloody messes for some illogical unknown reason.  
The petty dealings between the humans on the ship, their lies, their jealousy, their deception.  
Learning of the debacle mankind made of their old home world.  
The butterfly.  
The spider.  
The anger.  
He saw the fissure begin between himself and his brother.  
And yet, the love remained true. He still had his family, his brother, his mother, and his home.  
And then one day, he had nothing.  
Tessla.  
The Planet Transformation Device.  
Lies.  
There was no love. No trust. All had betrayed him, all hated him, all abandoned him.  
Well, he would abandon them as well.  
Betray the crew. Reprogram the ships. Kill the captain.  
Make the humans fall.  
Kill his mother.  
Hate them all.  
"Why are you showing me this?" Knives cried as he clawed at the images before his eyes, trying insanely to rip them away, "There's nothing I can change now." The plants spun wickedly around him, making him dizzy with the visions as they came unmercifully hard and violent.  
The Great Fall.  
The hard dry planet.  
Traveling with his brother in bitter silence. Years of silence.  
Hating the humans for making Vash hate him.  
Activating the PTD recharging unit.  
Creating the guns.  
Being shot.  
Pain.  
Never ending.  
Then came the years he had shared with no one. Years of wandering aimlessly in the desert, no direction, no food, no water. Only the pain of his wounds and the mad spinning of his mind.  
Finally, stumbling upon the fallen plant ship again.  
Regaining his sanity and mission.  
The Gung-Ho Guns.  
Make Vash suffer.  
Make him my brother again.  
Make somebody love me again.  
"No," he moaned, "I don't want to see it."  
Pain.  
The pain of every human who ever died through his hands.  
Burning.  
His brother's bullets ripped five times through his body.  
Agony.  
"I did it all for you," he hissed at the circling specters, clutching his body where the bullets had once gone through him. "Everything I did...was for you, my brothers and...sisters..."  
LIAR  
Knives felt his heart stop. Could it be certain?  
Was everything he had done been for his own selfish reasons?  
SEE  
For the first time in his life, Knives saw the truth, unclouded by his own ego, his mind, forced open...exposed.  
The plants had shown him.  
His grudge against the humans was from his own sense of betrayal.  
His anger against Rem, the crew, Vash, and the whole human race was the sole reason for his actions. They hurt him, and he hurt them back. In his mind, they had driven his brother from him, and anyone who could possibly care for him. As long as his brother hated him, as long as everyone hated him, he would do nothing but hate them back with all his strength and will.  
Suspended in the unreal world of liquid blue, with the clock counting down on an entire race of humanity, Knives lost his centuries old will for destruction. His body sagged in the waters; suspended only by what little breath he had left in his body.  
One hundred and thirty years of hate. Knives had hated for so long, he wasn't sure if he remembered what love felt like. Would he know it if he felt it.  
"Does it even matter anymore...?" He sobbed.  
The swirling waters around him abruptly slowed.  
Then the plants showed him something he hadn't remembered. Waking up to the color of blue eyes and the soft press of a mouth against his own.  
Love.  
The face looked into his own for an instant with such warmth and care, he felt like he was back in the Rec Room breathing the light summer air and running his fingers through the cool green grass.  
It was the woman...Meryl.  
The one that looked so much like Rem. The one whom Vash said...shared her soul.  
"Why...?" He breathed, tears lifting from his eyes into the blue sea around him.  
Her face came closer and she smiled.  
Because I wanted to...  
The answer seemed to come from all around him, deeply intoned by the ghost like plant angels in their hypnotic chanting. The words reverberated in him, shaking his heart near to its breaking point.  
But, she betrayed me too, didn't she?  
All the while his mind kept coming back to when he found the blocker and lost all faith in her. But now...doubt plagued him. What if she hadn't known about it? That would mean she was only trying to help him, that she really did care about him, and that would also mean that he had betrayed her trust instead. He needed to know for sure. The angels stopped, as if waiting for him to make up his mind, their eyes shone brilliantly through the dusty liquid of the nearly filled PTD.  
Tell me, he thought desperately, show me that time through her eyes.  
Knives closed his eyes.  
When he opened them, he was looking at himself through Meryl's mind. He saw himself find the blocker; saw her confusion at his sudden anger.  
Her sense of betrayal and pain when he shot her in the hand.  
Her sadness and fear for herself but also...for him. It was true, everything she had ever said, was true.  
So, she didn't know about it...I was wrong...about her...about...  
...everything...  
His resolve, his plan, his mission...everything shattered.  
The angels disappeared without a word.  
Suddenly he was free, staring at the edge of the water just inches away.  
  
Five minutes...  
With a final heave, Knives broke through the surface directly in front of Meryl.  
  
Vash gazed awestruck at the brilliant display of light from the PTD. A few seconds ago, all the lights from the surrounding plants had suddenly gone out only to appear all together inside the one giant plant.  
"It can't have started already," he thought, "there are still five minutes left!"  
The light swirled and pulsed inside the bulb, and for a moment Vash thought he almost saw shapes in the cloudy waters.  
But, just as quickly as they had appeared, the light was gone, and the ship was plunged into darkness again.  
"What was that?" Vash rasped, glancing around from his perch on the scaffolding next to the plant. He had climbed up the nearby railing and was now hanging directly over the hatch on the upper side of the enormous bulb.  
  
Slowly, the lights in the other plants came back, and even though they were much dimmer than before, they still threw enough light on the central plant to make the two people inside visible to Vash.  
"What the..."  
  
The first thing Meryl was aware of was a gentle movement against her cheek. Groaning with the dull ache that throbbed in her pinned limbs and swelling face, she opened her eyes with difficulty.  
She was spellbound. The figure in front of her was, at first, a shadow. An intense light shone behind him, making his body glow around the edges, like an...  
"Angel..." she breathed.  
The angel moved in closer and Meryl recognized him with a gasp. "Knives!"  
She knew she should be frightened of him, of where she was, of the pain that he had so vividly described for her. But, there was something different about his eyes as he stared unmoving in front of her.  
He has different eyes, she thought, they look like...Vash.  
Knives placed a hand gently on the side of her face and looked sadly into her own eyes.  
"Thank you," he said softly, "thank you, for believing in me...I..."  
With his defenses completely torn away, Knives allowed himself to do something he had wanted to do the first day he saw her. He gently lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her.  
Meryl did not move, but, as if she understood, softly returned his kiss.  
And for the first time in a long time, Knives felt...loved.  
The soft press of his lips on hers was slow to part, hovering centimeters from each other afterwards, as if he wanted to share the same breath a moment longer. His sad eyes looked into her questioning ones as he reached up for the cables over her head.  
But Meryl's eyes widened in fear again when she realized what he was about to do.  
"Goodbye." He whispered.  
  
Vash clung to the side of the PTD; slack jawed at the sight of Meryl and his brother. She should be struggling, fighting, or at least biting his lip right now.  
But it looked just like she was kissing him back? Vash felt his heart sink. It didn't make any sense.  
"Meryl..."  
Four minutes...  
Vash watched as the two slowly parted. He saw Knives say something to Meryl before he reached for the cables over her head.  
"He's reconnecting the cables!" Instantly, Vash sprang to action, scrambling up the slick side of the plant to the hatch. Below him he could see Knives hooking up the last of the cables to the metal grip over Meryl's shoulder.  
"Damn it! If I don't get in there right now, he's going to kill her!"  
With all his might, Vash yanked on the hatch, but it refused to budge.  
"Meryl!" He pounded on the thick glass. "Knives!" It looked like the two of them were still talking inside. "Snap out of it!" He yelled at himself. "You've got to stop it, now!"  
He trained his gun at the bolts that held the hatch in place. Even if the blast did send shards of broken glass and metal down on her, at least she'd have a better chance of surviving than when the plant was activated.  
"I'm sorry, Meryl, I don't have a choice." He pleaded, aiming his gun and firing two precise shots.  
The gun blasts echoed through the humming chamber, blowing away the restraints on the round hatch and making the spider like cracks in the glass reach farther out, almost to the breaking point. If he wasn't careful, the next shot could take out the whole thing and then Meryl would really be in danger from all the flying shards of glass. Only one more bullet and the door would fall. Vash took aim.  
All of a sudden, there was a creaking, grinding sound, and the hatch began to move, and rattle, and slowly started to lift off the side of the plant, seemingly all by itself.  
"What the...?"  
What do you think you're trying to do, brother, kill her? A voice sounded in his head and Vash looked down in shock.  
Below him he saw Knives, hanging onto the central column. His left hand was extended out towards the hatch, holding it up in the air by the strength of his mind. With a forceful wave of his hand, Knives sent the heavy steel door crashing to the ground far below. Vash looked back at his brother in disbelief.  
Knives gave him a trademark smirk, And here I thought you said you were in love with her.  
"Knives...what are you doing?" Vash stammered. There was something different about him, the way he was acting, his voice, his eyes.  
With another wave of his hand, Knives made all the grips and bolts in the central column unlatch.  
Meryl suddenly felt her body being released from its restraints. The metal hooks and locks that had bound her arms and legs loosened enough to let her scramble out of harms way. Her muscles felt sore, her head was pounding where it had smacked into the support, and her hand ached dully from being shot, but she was otherwise all right.  
She turned back in time to see Knives climbing into her spot on the central column.  
"Knives," she started, bewildered at his action, "you...you can't."  
"I can and I will." He stated simply, not looking at her. "I've made my decision."  
"You..you don't have to do this, Knives."  
"I know." He turned his pale blue eyes to her and smiled sadly. "But...I want to."  
"Knives..."  
"You must go now. You have three minutes left. Go, get my fool of a brother out of here."  
"But..."  
"I said GO!" Knives reached out his hand and Meryl felt herself lift off the landing and hover in the air. For a few second she held his eyes as she floated up gracefully, then he flicked his wrist and she spun away until she was facing the opposite direction and the open hatch.  
Stretching his arm out to grab hold of her was Vash.  
"Vash!" Meryl cried out. He was really there! He had come to get her back. She felt her tears of joy and relief stick in her throat.  
"Meryl! Grab onto my hand, I'll get you out of here."  
She latched onto his arm and he pulled her up the rest of the way, holding her snuggly against his chest. Meryl clung to him, hardly believing he was really there.  
"Vash...you came. For a while I didn't think that you...I'm so..." He tilted her face up, softly stroking her cheek.  
"Meryl...I..."  
He stopped when he caught a glimpse of his brother below them. Knives was calmly strapping himself into the central column of the PTD unit.  
"Hold on to me," Vash said as he quickly swung Meryl behind him, letting her latch her arms around his neck. Whatever his brother was doing, he wouldn't make it out before the explosion at this rate.  
Knives? What are you doing? He reached out with his mind.  
Knives did not look at him, but continued adjusting the wires and restraints as he answered.  
Vash. You must get yourself out of here. Use the old escape vessel. Number seven should still be operational.  
The tall blonde gunman stood, too shocked to move. Knives was inside the PTD, hooked up the control unit, telling him to escape. But Knives...was staying. His brother was planning to use himself as a conduit. Why? Didn't he know it would kill him to? Right from the start, Knives had hated this machine and resented the humans for planning to use him in its activation. It was why he had killed the crew and countless others in his quest for revenge. It was why he'd killed Rem. Why was he inside it now, so willingly making himself into the one thing he had always fought against?  
But, I don't understand Knives...why?  
Time is running out! Knives thought angrily. If you want to save her, go now! There was a hitch in his voice, and he stopped moving. Vash clenched his hand against the glass.  
But...you'll die. He said, tears quivering in his eyes.  
Knives did not move. It's better this way.  
Brother...I...I don't want you to die. Vash cried mentally, trying desperately to force the restraints off his brother from his high vantage. But his mind was too weak from years of neglect. The tears spilled down his face as he pleaded with his brother.  
"Vash?" Meryl ventured, unable to hear anything the two brothers were thinking. But he didn't hear her. He only know he was losing his only brother, the only family he had left. His only link to the past.  
Please, Knives. Don't leave me alone again...please.  
Knives finally raised his face up to where Vash was perched on top of the plant. His expression was one of intangible regret.  
You're not alone, Vash. There are many who care for you...She cares for you...and so do I.  
Knives...  
That is why you must GO! Knives thought forcefully, looking down again.  
Brother... Vash made to climb down into the machine again. Knives free arm shot out toward his brother, stopping him in his tracks.  
GO NOW!  
With a sweep of his hand, Knives shoved the two of them off the PTD. Meryl screamed as they plummeted like rocks down toward the cement floor. Knives turned his palm over and stretched out his arm. Instantly Vash and Meryl found themselves suspended in midair, hovering a few feet from the ground. Vash gathered Meryl in his arms as they were lowered gently to the floor. He looked back over his shoulder at the immense plant behind him. The whole bulb was resonating with a powerful humming sound, and the dense blue LCL lapped against the sides of the glass that still creaked and splintered from the cracks that ran up and down it's length. It was amazing it was still holding together.  
Inside, through the spray and mist of the plant, Vash saw his brother, strapped fully into the Planet Transformation Device, his head hung low as if in resignation. The light of the activation sequence made the inside of the plant glow, lighting up the blonde man inside like a beacon.  
"Brother..."  
Knives raised his steel blue eyes in the shining mist and met his brothers soft blue green. Then he did something that Vash had not seen in over one hundred years, not since they were children.  
He smiled.  
A true smile, at last. Vash smiled back through trembling lips and held his brother in his sight until he couldn't see him anymore due to the tears that blurred his own vision and the gradually increasing illumination inside the plant.  
"Um...Vash?" Meryl pulled gently on his collar. The look on his face broke her heart. It was the same look he had after he'd killed Legato. But this time there was a grim determination behind it as well.  
"We have to go." His voice broke making her heart wretch again.  
"Do we have enough time to make it to safety? You're gonna have to let me down, you know? We can't run out of here like this," she indicated her small body gathered up in his arms, "we'll go faster if you put me down."  
"We're not running out of here." Vash replied.  
"What? Than how are we getting out?" Meryl questioned with a bit of her former testiness.  
Moments later Vash stopped in front of a row of dusty old machines that resembled large overturned spittoons. Quickly, he set Meryl down in front of a ladder that lead straight up into the hollow of one of the escape pods.  
Two minutes...  
A loud low drumming sound could be heard from the middle of the ship as all the instruments and machines around them began to rattle and shake from the vibrations. Slowly, the shaking increased until the whole ship began to quake.  
They scrambled up into the portal of pod number seven just as several large beams came crashing down behind them. The ceiling was falling, making huge chunks of metal sail down, and smashing some of the smaller plants to bits.  
Vash raced to the front of the cramped pod and began punching a series of buttons. The pod clicked on, whirring like an old can opener.  
"Vash?" Meryl shouted over the din, "are you sure this thing will fly?"  
"It's got to!" He yelled back. "Hurry up and strap yourself in!"  
Meryl shimmied in between the two front seats and fumbled with the complicated belt.  
"I can't get it!" She shouted in a panic.  
Vash checked the clock. One minute, thirty seconds...  
"There's no time!" He yelled, hefting Meryl out of her seat and sitting her in between his legs. In a flash he unhooked his belt and wrapped it around the both of them, wrapping his arms tightly around her as well.  
"Meryl! Hit the blue button in front of you!"  
She mashed the button down and the both of them closed their eyes as the pod's thrusters boomed in response. The ancient machine groaned to life as it lifted heavily off the ground and prepared to make its bullet like exit from the escape tube that was positioned before it.  
"Hold on!"  
But just as suddenly, the pod sputtered and sparked. The blinking lights dimmed out and the old ship went dead. Meryl peeled open her tightly sealed eyes in shock.  
Vash stared wide-eyed at the dark panel as he forcefully punched the blue button over and over.  
"Shit!" He croaked. "It's dead!" His swiftly looked out the window at the other pods. "Come on, Meryl," he shouted, "if we hurry we can still make it out of here!"  
Fifty seconds...  
"Let's try number eight, I think it's to the...Meryl?" She had turned herself on his lap and was looking up at him with luminous eyes, her arms wound around his neck, pulling him close.  
"Vash," she whispered, "I'm so happy I'm with you right now, so happy you came for me in the end."  
"Meryl..."  
Everything came screeching to a halt.  
He realized in shock that she was trying to say goodbye to him.  
"You are, and will always be, the one I believe in and trust with all my heart." She pressed her mouth close to his ear and hushed...  
"I love you."  
  
ILLUSTRATION: Telling You (http:ing intently into her face.  
In the end, no words were necessary as he pressed his lips to hers, drinking the feel and taste of her for the first and last time. She leaned into him, opening hungrily. A lifetime of passion and love rushing out with less than a minute left to spend it in.  
But Vash was happy for it. He finally found what he had been searching for, and he was happy for the time they had together, no matter how short it was. He chuckled at the irony of it. Here he was, a being that had enjoyed more time than any other life should be allowed to have, and in the end it was time that was his enemy after all. He smiled against her lips. At least I know she won't bean me in the head when it's over, he thought, and closed his eyes in preparation for the blast.  
Ten seconds...  
What are you waiting for, imbecile! GO!  
Vash's eyes flew open at the sound of the voice and the immediate rumble of the pod.  
Without warning the interior of the escape pod burst into life as all the panels lit up like fireworks. Before he could even punch the blue button again, the pod gave a tremendous heave and shot out of the rusty tube like a bullet, sailing out of the ship and into the clear blue sky.  
Seconds later, a tremendous burst of light flashed out, covering the planet in its inhabitants in its brilliance...  
And then...  
...everything went dark.  
  
Next time on Edge of the Sea, the final chapter Chapter 13 and Epilogue: The Edge of the Sea 


	13. The Edge of the Sea

**CHAPTER 13: THE EDGE OF THE SEA**  
  
At first, all he saw was blue.  
Calm and peaceful, the warm waters surrounded him, encasing them in their gentle push and pull of current. Tiny dust particles floating by were caught by the twinkling light from overhead, making them shine like wandering stars in the deep blue sea. It felt so right, so safe.  
He stirred. There was a light overhead, just as he remembered, glistening on the edge.  
I have to go there. He thought.  
This time, there was no fear and no pain as he swam up to the surface. For some reason, he knew the path was clear now, and a smile lit his face as he reached for the open air.  
He closed his eyes as he broke through the surface, feeling the cool breeze on his wet skin mingling with the warmth of the sun above. He heard the sound of birds circling overhead and of waves crashing on land nearby. He opened his eyes.  
Again, at first all he saw was blue.  
This time, the blue of the sky was dotted with small white clouds that rolled by without a care, and the bright sun, just one, that hung at the two o'clock position in the deep azure sky.  
White birds sailed high overhead, singing and speaking to each other as they flew. He floated on his back on the gentle bobbing water watching the birds play and sing for some time.  
Eventually his eyes followed the path of one bird as it glided down lower on the horizon and came to rest on something. A rock? Curious, he turned over and began swimming toward the bird and it's perch.  
As he came closer, he realized that the bird had landed on a beach. A brilliant white sandy beach that stretched nearly the length of the sea itself. And again, he felt the urge to reach the edge of the clear clean waters.  
Without hesitation, he plunged headfirst through the crisp spray and began swimming to the gleaming shoreline. As he did, he seemed to catch glimpses of people, places, and words, but he didn't understand what these things meant. Some were happy images, some were not.  
Maybe the answer is there. He thought, eyes fixed on the white strip of land.  
As the beach got closer and closer, he began to make out shapes above the shore. Some became trees, green and lush. Some were hills, mountains, and rivers. Others became animals, darting amid the brush and trunks of the larger trees. A whole world stretched out before him.  
I've seen this somewhere before... he mused. Before he knew it he felt the sandy sea floor underneath his feet. It felt so good to sink deep into the soft bottom as he waded closer to the shore.  
Then something to his right caught his attention...another shape...different than the others. And it was slowly coming toward him, wavy and indistinguishable at first, it soon took on a clearer form.  
Tall, with long dark hair that billowed in the soft breeze, and deep brown eyes, he gazed at the beautiful woman walking barefoot along the shore to where he stood, ankle deep in the lapping waves.  
She stopped a few feet in front of him.  
"I know you," he said wondrously, "don't I know you?"  
"Yes, you do." She answered with a warm smile. "Although you forgot about me for a long time."  
"What is this place?"  
"It is where all souls who were lost come to find peace. We call it the Edge of the Sea. It connects the old world to the new." The woman held out her hand for him to take. Her long white dress flapped in the breeze as the sands sparkled and the sea hugged the edge of the world. Everything seemed perfect. Except...  
"Why is it that we are the only ones on this beach?" He asked, hesitant to take her offered hand.  
"Not everyone makes it to the Edge, for reasons of their own. Either they cannot find it, or they do not wish to come here. You are very lucky to have found your way here."  
"Why can't I remember anything?"  
For a moment the tall beautiful woman looked very sad, "You can remember, you are simply choosing not to. But I must tell you that if you wish to stay in this place with us, you must remember. You must first remember everything."  
He nodded his head slowly, feeling strangely afraid at the prospect remembering, "How do I do it?" He finally asked.  
The woman offered him her hand once more saying, "Take my hand and come onto the shore."  
He took her hand and she pulled him up onto the warm white sand. The moment his feet felt dry land, every memory in his life came back over him like a single crashing wave. He staggered from the blow as the images shook his mind, but the woman held onto him so he wouldn't fall into the water again. Quickly as they came, the visions were gone and he was left gasping for air and clinging like a child to her dress. The woman lovingly stroked his short blonde hair.  
"I'm glad you made it, Knives." She whispered.  
Knives raised his eyes to look at her again; even though he knew who she was he still stared in disbelief. When the memories came, he had felt the fear and pain, just like before. But instead of fighting it, he had accepted it and had been surprised to find that instead of the anger and pain he'd felt before, his heart was felt somehow lighter. His last memory had been of his Vash and Meryl speeding safely away together in the escape pod. For a split second, he saw hundreds of faces of all colors and hues surrounded themselves by masses of feather filled wings. Then there was a brilliant light all around him. When he looked down, he saw the light was coming from his own body, glowing like a beacon. Such a feeling of peace, he'd never known before.  
Then...nothing. Not until he woke up in the blue of the sea again.  
But still, a small emptiness filled his heart. There was something missing.  
"Was this what it all meant?" He breathed. "Was this what it was trying to tell me in my dreams? That I was meant to die? That my destiny was to fail?"  
"No, Knives," the woman said, kneeling down in the sand with him. "You did not fail at your destiny. Through your last selfless act, you have created more life in your death than any other being in the history of the universe. But, it was still your choice to make. No one else could have made it for you."  
Her brown eyes glinted in the bright sunlight as she tipped his chin up so she could see into his eyes, "When I sent you the dream," she spoke softly, "it was meant to be a message for you, that you still had a chance to change things. Both for you and the ones who loved you. Everyone deserves a second chance, my son." Then she cradled his face in her hands and kissed him softly on the forehead.  
Knives broke down in her lap, his tears falling freely on her white dress as he cried and clung to her like a child who never had a chance to grow up. The hate of a hundred years washed away like the waves on that sandy white beach.  
"I'm sorry," he sobbed, "I'm so sorry, Rem, for everything. Please...forgive me."  
"Knives," she hushed, stroking his hair again, "I forgave you a long time ago. You're my son, and I will always love you."  
Knives buried his head in her arms again and wept for what seemed like hours. But this time he cried tears of happiness as well. The emptiness was gone. He'd had to go back to the very beginning again, but he'd finally found the thing he wanted most.  
Wrapped in the love and caring he'd longed for all his long life; Millions Knives fell into a peaceful dreamless sleep.  
At peace at last, there, at the Edge of the Sea.

* * *

Vash was become increasingly aware of the warm weight pressed against his chest and the slight tickle of hair on his face. Shifting, he breathed out air to puff the strands from of his mouth and nostrils. The air around him was dusty and it tasted like grease and smoke, and...something else, something nice.  
The outlaw opened his eyes, slowly adjusting to the musty dark of the small pod. When he saw Meryl curled up on top of him in the cramped space his breath hitched in his throat. She was alive, and she looked all right. And...and he was alive to! He nearly cried in relief as he touched her pale face is if it was fragile enough to break. She sighed and nuzzled into his touch, and he felt his heart jump again. If Knives had killed her didn't know what he would have done...  
"Knives!"  
He sat up suddenly, bashing his head against the ceiling of the escape pod in his haste. "Ow! Maaan!" He whined, holding his spiky head where he knew a lump was sure to form.  
Meryl stirred in his lap and Vash noticed how close they were to each other. In all the chaos of getting of the ship, he hadn't had time to be nervous or shy. But now, all he could see was her and the way she clung to him in her sleep. Her arms draped snuggly around his shoulders and her legs sandwiched between his own. Vash felt his heart thrum in his chest when she groaned.  
"Meryl?" He whispered, half sorry that the moment had to end. "Meryl, wake up. Are you ok?"  
"Hmm? What's...going...Vash!" She exclaimed when she opened her eyes wide enough to see him, flinging herself against his chest and hugging him with all her strength.  
"Oh, Vash! You're alive! I'm so happy you're all right! I was so worried! Are you hurt at all?"  
"Yeah, yeah I'm just fine," he laughed grabbing onto her so she wouldn't slide off his lap in all the excitement, "and you?"  
Meryl flushed when he pulled her in, but managed to laugh in spite of it, "Yes, I think I'm all right."  
Vash reached out his good hand and lightly touched her face.  
"Ow..." she winced. There was still a good-sized bruise on her left cheek where Knives had struck her in the PTD.  
"Sorry," Vash breathed and gingerly kissed the spot. Meryl felt her heart jump at his gesture and trained her eyes on her hands. She felt his hands leave her face and brush along down her arms only to rest on top of the folded hands she was staring at. Her skin felt alive with the sensations of his touch as he lifted her chin up so he could see her face. For the time being, nothing mattered, nothing existed except the two people tangled together in the dark.  
The only light in the cramped pod was a dim red blinking bulb that flashed slowly on the broken display. Meryl could not see his face clearly as he slid his fingers along her jaw line and behind her neck, letting his hands move through her hair at its base. She leaned into his touch, the only sound audible was the sound of steady breathing and the blood pounding in their ears.  
He shifted toward her and placed a kiss on her neck just behind her ear. She instinctively leaned in so they were pressed together on the small seat, her legs straddling him. The red light gave their bodies a burning look that matched the feelings beneath their skin. In the near dark, Meryl felt bolder than she'd ever been and placed her mouth tentatively on his shoulder kissing him lightly. She felt him shiver under her and felt for his face, careful not to poke him in the eye. Her hand met his lips somehow and he kissed her open palm before moving her arms around his neck.  
Their heads came so close that Vash could feel her nose brush past his as he held her face in his hands. He hugged her closer and buried his face in the nape of her neck as she moved her hands over his back.  
Vash was almost too wrapped up in the pleasant sensations to notice the little blinking blue light that began to flash on and off. He stopped and focused on it.  
"Meryl," he said, bringing her out of her dreamy trance, "look at that."  
She turned and found the button, "It's the one that starts the ship, right? But, I thought it didn't work?" She reached out and touched the blue dot of light.  
Immediately the blue light faded and died, leaving the panel dark again.  
"Vash," Meryl whispered, "if the controls on the pod weren't functional, then how did we...?"  
Vash tapped the cracked blue button on the control panel and nothing happened. It had been dead the entire time, even through the escape itself.  
  
"Knives..." Vash breathed, "he must have..."  
"He saved us, didn't he?" Meryl said quietly.  
Vash said nothing, but quietly nodded his head in agreement.  
"Is he...dead?"  
Hanging his head in acknowldgement, Vash thought back to the last seconds before the explosion. He'd felt the mental link between himself and his brother get staticy, like it was being blocked with difficulty. Vash knew Knives had done it to protect him from any metal kickback from the machine when it activated.  
He quietly reached out his mind again, but all he found was silence. Knives was gone.  
"Um...Vash?" Meryl ventured, "About what I said earlier, before we escaped...I..."  
They both jumped when a loud banging came from outside the pod.  
"Hello! Hey, is anyone in there?" A hard masculine voice shouted, shortly followed by a second voice, bright and feminine.  
"Hello in there! Do you need any help?"  
Vash and Meryl looked at each other before both calling out, "Milly? Wolfwood? Is that you?"  
"Hey, I was right big girl!" The man's voice said with a hearty laugh, "It is them! Hey! Vash, you old dog! I knew you wanted to be alone with the small girl, but don't you think this is a little extreme!" They heard the priest guffawing just beyond the door.  
"Oh, Nicholas, stop that," they heard Milly chastise him sweetly, "besides, they might want to be alone right now. Who knows? After today we might be godparents!"  
There was a loud thump from inside the pod as both people inside conked their heads on the roof of the ship.  
Wolfwood chuckled, "I think we better help them out of there after all, honey. Give me a hand?"  
"Of course, dear," Milly trilled, "besides, I'm sure they wouldn't want to miss what's been going on out here anyway."  
The door creaked slowly open as they pushed and pulled. Finally the heavy round portal gave way and fell to the side with a clang. Light poured into the small dark pod, momentarily blinding the two inside.  
"Come on out you two, you won't believe your eyes."  
Together, Vash and Meryl stepped out into the light.  
All they saw was blue.  
And green.  
All around them, the world looked like it was covered in a blanket of green.  
"Oh my..." Meryl gasped when she saw the miraculous sight in front of her. Not only was the ground covered in a layer of thin green grass, but also the grass looked like it was still growing before her eyes. Soon the whole desert that had once stretched out endlessly dry and barren was draped in rolling hills of long blowing grass. She had never seen anything so beautiful in her entire life.  
Before she had a chance to say a word, a flash of brown and pink attacked her and began squeezing the life from her.  
"Meryl!" The tall woman squealed. "I'm so glad you're ok, I was so worried about you, but when Mr. Vash said he was going to get you back I just knew everything was going to be fine!"  
"Oof," Meryl patted her best friend on the shoulder, "thanks Milly, but I think you'd better let me go or else his trip may have been a waste." Milly loosened her grip but still hung onto the small insurance girl as she happily chirped away. It seemed that she and Wolfwood had been trying to track the two of them down for a couple of days.  
"Tongari!" Wolfwood clapped his friend on the back, nearly making Vash fall flat on his face. "You're looking worse for the wear! Small girl over there likes if pretty rough, huh?" He jibbed, causing Vash to go as red as his old jacket and stammer like an idiot.  
"Nicholas, that's enough, dear," Milly chided sweetly. She turned back to Meryl and continued her account. "We were about to turn around and go back home, Meryl, and it really was a coincidence that we saw your ship flying through the air at that exact moment. We really didn't know if it was you at first, but then Nicholas saw the writing on the side and it convinced him that you were really in there. What did it say again, dear?"  
"SEEDS," he said flatly, "I'd seen that word before, and that's what convinced me." He gave Vash a sideways look and raised an eyebrow.  
"Then of course," Milly continued, "that's when it happened."  
"When what happened?" Meryl asked.  
"There was this big flash of light from over there," Wolfwood pointed to the horizon, "that spread out over everything. After that, I don't know, we both lost consciousness for a while. I don't know how long we were out, but when we woke up everything was changed." He indicated the green grass, billowing like waves all around them.  
Milly gave a giggle and raced up the nearest hill, "Come on, darling! Let's look at the valley!" She sang.  
Wolfwood turned to follow her, but paused to look back over his shoulder at Vash, "I don't suppose you'd mind explaining all this to me someday, eh Tongari?" Then he grinned and climbed up over the hill.  
Meryl stood transfixed, still unsure of what she was seeing. Part of her told her it was real, and another part of her was convinced she was in heaven somehow, it was all too beautiful.  
Vash stepped foreword, snapping her out of her trance and quietly taking her hand. She turned to face him and noticed that his expression was mixed with unmistakable sadness.  
"Come one you two," came Milly's voice from beyond the nearest mossy hill, "you don't want to miss this!"  
The two of them walked in a daze over the rise of land to where Milly and Wolfwood both stood.  
Before them, thousands of tiny buds were growing at a rapid rate. Some of those buds were snaking upward to the sky, twisting and branching out until huge leafy trees canopied the valley. Other buds blossomed out, exploding the valley in gallons of flowers and bushes and vines.  
"It's a miracle." Milly said as she clung to Wolfwood's arm in awe.  
Meryl felt Vash give her hand a gentle squeeze and she tore her gaze from the wonders below to look up at him. She was surprised to see tears glistening on his face as he watched the Eden unfold before him.  
"Vash?" She said softly. "Vash, he did it, didn't he? He got the plant to work?"  
"Yes. In the end, he sacrificed himself to save us all." Vash let his lower lip tremble as he spoke. "I...I should have tried to save him...there was still time...I could have..."  
"There was nothing you could have done, Vash, and you know it." Meryl cut him off, stepping in front of him and grabbing both his hands. "Knives made his choice. It's what he wanted to do. There was no way you could have stopped him."  
Vash looked down at her and at their hands laced together. She was right. Even he realized at the time that there was nothing he could have done to stop his brother. In the end it had been his choice and he had to respect that.  
Letting out a long sigh, Vash gave her a small smile and pulled her toward him. "You're right." He said. "You were always right."  
"I'm glad you're finally seeing reason, Mr. Stampede," she teased.  
"I guess I just had to get some sense beaten into me, Insurance Girl," he fired back.  
Meryl laughed and leaned her head against his chest. "Everything will be all right now, won't it?" She questioned, hearing his response rumble through her ear when he spoke.  
"Yeah, everything's going to be great."  
"Um, Vash..." she said, suddenly shy, "uh, about what I said in the pod back there. I, well...I mean, you don't have to give me an answer or anything. I just...It's something I've been meaning to tell you for a long time now, and I had to say it before...well...you..."  
Vash stopped her in mid sentence by pressing his mouth against hers and kissing her with all the passion he's given her in the escape pod. Shocked stiff at first, Meryl soon relaxed into his arms and kissed him back with equal fervor.  
Wolfwood opened his mouth to shoot a witty comment in their direction, but Milly clapped her hand over his mouth and dragged him away over the next hill. "Come on, dear, some things are better left unsaid."  
"Bff Mmrreee..."  
Vash and Meryl never noticed as their two companions disappeared. Instead, they fell into the soft young grass underneath them, too wrapped up in each other to see the evening stars begin to dot the sky.  
A gentle breeze swept up the hillside as they lay gazing out at the new forest below. Lazily, the breeze made its way through the tree tops and up until it reached them, blowing past them like a ghost.  
Take care of her, and yourself, brother...  
Vash sat up in a flash. Meryl had felt something as well and she sat up looking at the sky in wonder.  
"What was that, Vash?" She whispered.  
Vash stared intently at the night sky and listened for any other sound or sign, but there was nothing else. Sighing, he turned to the fragile, beautiful woman beside him and realized just how much he loved her. He was so grateful to her for loving him, grateful to Milly and Wolfwood for letting him see what a true relationship could be like, and in the end, grateful to his brother for making him see the truth about himself. Brother, he thought, I hope that wherever you are right now, you find some happiness of your own.  
"Vash?" Meryl kissed him softly on the lips before leaning down against him. "You felt that to, didn't you? What was that?"  
He looked up at the sky one last time before pulling her into his arms and falling back on the grass with her.  
"An angel," He whispered, kissing her again, "just an angel watching over us."

* * *

**EPILOUGE:**  
Fifty summers later, the world was still as green as it had been the day Knives made his last atonement to mankind. The suns still arched overhead at their own leisurely pace, marking the days, the months, and the years. The moons, each with it's own distinctive shape, color, and in one instance, markings, still hung in the starry sky at night. Everything continuing on as it had since the beginning of its existence.  
But some things are not made to last forever.  
Vash the Stampede, the infamous outlaw who had passed into legend fifty years ago, a man who time could not touch, was losing the most important thing in his life today.  
  
Meryl was eighty-three just last spring, and although time had been kind to the spirited insurance lady, the age of her human body had finally caught up with her. Her hair was streaked with steely gray, and her skin showed the many lines and wrinkles that came with old age. She'd developed arthritis a few years ago and couldn't handle her derringers anymore, so she put them away in a drawer for one of her children, or their children.  
One of her many joys as she'd grown older had been to watch Vash play with the little ones.  
  
She remembered the day she announced he was going to be a father. He'd been beside himself with excitement, even though the pair of them had been terrified at the prospect of a plant/human baby at first. They had no idea of knowing if the pregnancy would go all right, or if the baby would be able to function in the world.  
In the end, everything had gone just fine and Meryl had given birth to a healthy set of twins, a boy and a girl who they named Brad and Rem. Even though Meryl swore she would never go through another labor like that again, she ended up doing it twice more. By the time she was finished, she and Vash had four healthy happy children.  
The third was a girl who they named Tessla, but their last child was harder to name. It took Vash years to be able to talk openly about his brother again, and by that time Meryl was busy with the twins. They both agreed they should honor him somehow, but naming their child Knives was almost like asking for trouble.  
"From everything you told me about Rem," Meryl once said, "it really surprises me that she'd name a child something violent, like Knives."  
"Well, Knives wasn't really his first name," Vash replied, holding up one arm as Brad did pull-ups on it while expertly changing Tessla with the other hand.  
He's like a fish in water when it comes to the kids, Meryl thought. "You never told me Knives had another name, Vash. What was it?"  
"Alex." Vash answered, giving Tessla her bottle while thumb wrestling with Brad on the floor.  
"Alex?" Meryl let the name roll over in her mind for a while. "So it was Vash and Alex, huh?"  
"Yeah, he didn't start calling himself Knives until after the first six months. I think it was after the first time we got beaten up by Steve." Vash gave her a sad smile.  
Meryl knew all about Steve and the history of the twins. "Alex sounds wonderful." She said, giving him a quick kiss.  
  
The two of them lead a quiet happy life with their four children for many blessed and peaceful years. They were never married, but lived to see their children find wives and husbands and start families of their own. The last time Meryl counted, she and Vash had eighteen grandchildren and two great-grandchildren on the way. There seemed to be an odd disposition for twins in the family.  
Milly and Wolfwood got married the year of The Rebirth, as people had started to call it. They had eight children and ran the orphanage in town, which Wolfwood had renamed, The Chapel Home for Children.  
Everything was perfect for many many years.  
Then one spring day five years ago, Wolfwood, at eighty-seven, laid down for his afternoon nap, and never woke up again. Milly had been devastated, and Vash and Meryl had been right by her side the whole time along with their two families. The Wolfwood's had been like a second home for the Stampede kids. All of them remembered Uncle Nicholas's fantastic stories and Aunt Milly's home baked chocolate pudding cookies. It was a hard day for all of them when they buried him out by the big oak tree.  
And now it was happening again.  
  
Meryl lay back on her and Vash's bed, propped up by pillows. The doctor said there was nothing else he could do for her and it was now only a matter of time. He'd left them alone to say goodbye. The children were all outside with Aunt Milly guarding the door; waiting quietly for the head of their family to come out and tell them their mother and friend was gone. Vash the Stampede knelt by the bedside of his lover, his friend and his companion, tears streaming down his face, his strong hand firmly holding her frail one.  
There, surrounded by her family and the love of her life, Meryl regretted none of the past fifty years. Just being together with Vash, sharing his hardships and his joys was enough for her. She could die content knowing that he would continue to live, that he would never be lonely again so long as their children were around. He would always have a little part of her with him now.  
Meryl lifted a weathered old hand and laid it on his smooth youthful face. She could feel the wet tears on his cheeks and the tremble of his lips as he quietly sobbed.  
"Shh," she hushed him softly, "we both knew this day would come, Vash. Please, don't cry. You made me so happy."  
"Don't go, Meryl." Vash choked, looking at her in quiet despair. "I don't want to be alone."  
"You're not alone, Vash. You never were." Meryl whispered. She could feel her heartbeat fading as she ran her fingers through his unruly spiky blonde hair. "I will always be with you now."  
Vash kissed her hand and laid his head on her shoulder, lacing his fingers through hers.  
"Thank you." He sighed. "Thank you for loving me. And for our family. I promise I'll look after them after..."  
Meryl put her weary arms around his shaking frame and held him close. He meant too much to her, she didn't want to leave him or her children, but she knew she had no choice. And he was right; he would look after them all so none of them would ever be alone either. Meryl smiled and sighed contentedly.  
"Vash, you are a wonderful man, and you are a wonderful father, and I...I,"  
But Meryl never finished her thought. Her head slumped to the side and her eyes slowly closed, the last words dying on her lips just seconds before she followed them.  
Vash's hands shook as he carefully gathered up her fragile body in his arms and rocked back and forth on the bed, crying into her hair and kissing her face. He knew she was right, and he would survive this like he'd done everything else. Their family and the memories of their time together would be enough to sustain him. But just then, he wanted to stay with her, for just a little bit longer, cradling her in his arms as he had done so many times before.  
"I love you to..." Vash breathed through his tears, finishing her last sentence for her.

* * *

As she slipped away from the world, Meryl began to feel lighter and lighter, until it was as if she was floating away on a breeze. Behind her closed eyes, she began to see dazzling sparkles of light, like ripples on water.  
When she opened her eyes again, all she saw was blue.  
It was so peaceful and warm in the blue, like being under water. She looked up and saw a brilliant display of crystalline light playing across the surface of the water, and so many different colors that it reminded her of a dancing garden of flowers. Familiar somehow...  
She had an unmistakable urge to reach out for it, so she began swimming upward, hands stretching out to grab hold of the flitting racing petals of light.  
The cool breeze caressed her skin as she broke through the surface of the water and felt the warm sun. White birds circled serenely overhead, calling and playing in the deep blue sky. It was then she realized that the hands she was holding up to the sky were the hands of a young woman, and that her body felt strong and full of energy, just as it had when she was young. Although, strangely, she couldn't clearly remember ever having been old. She lay on her back in the gentle waves and let it carry her for a long time as she watched the birds dance above her.  
Something off to the right caught her attention. Not too far away was a strip of white sandy beach that seemed to fill the entire horizon. Pulled toward it, she swam the rest of the way until she could feel the sandy sea bottom under her bare feet. Just beyond the beach was a forest of thick dense trees and lush green grass. Over the forest rose mountains and hills. Everything was so full of life and peace; she almost didn't notice the presence in front of her.  
Before her on the beach, stood a man.  
He was tall with light blonde hair and eyes the color of the sea behind her. The wind whipped the loose white shirt he was wearing around his body as he stood with a tranquil smile on his handsome face.  
"I know you." She whispered.  
The man's smile broadened and he held out a hand for her to help her onto the beach.  
She took his offered hand and stepped onto the warm white sands.  
In a moment her eyes snapped up and she stared in wonder at the man in front of her.  
"You remember now, don't you?" He said warmly.  
"Yes...I do," Meryl started, taking in her surroundings, "but...I don't understand."  
"I've been sent to welcome you." He answered, and pulled her into a warm hug. There was no awkwardness or rush of blood, just the calm comfort and safety of their embrace. Meryl latched her arms around his back and returned the hug to the man who'd once vowed to kill her. With that smile on his face and his eyes as calm as the sky, he actually looked much more like his brother than he did while he was alive.  
  
ILLUSTRATION: Meeting You (Got to Ricki's Trigun Anime Page under Mabel's Fan Art)  
  
A sudden sadness made her back away from him as she thought about the man she'd left behind.  
"And Vash?" She questioned, knowing he would understand her.  
Knives smiled again and led her back to the edge of the shore.  
"He'll be fine, Meryl," he reassured her, "all of them will. If you look into the sea you can see them sometimes, this is, of you want to." He gave her a sideways look and winked.  
"I want to." Meryl replied, and she stared hard at the lapping waves in front of her. Then she saw him. The image was blurry at first, like it was underwater, but gradually it came into focus. He was playing with the grandchildren, little Alex's sons who, naturally, had their grandfather in a strangle hold on the floor. Meryl laughed and shook her head.  
The image of Vash raised his head suddenly and looked around, as if he'd heard her. Then he gazed up into the sky and smiled, his eyes shinning with understanding.  
  
ILLUSTRATION: Watching You (Go to Ricki's Trigun Anime Page under Mabel's Fan Art)  
  
"Thank you." Meryl whispered.  
Knives smiled and held her hand. The two of them stood and continued to watch the waves until the one sun sank low on the horizon, bathing everything in gold, there at the Edge of the Sea.  
  
**The End  
  
**Thank you everyone for support me and the Edge of the Sea. Please R & R and let me know what you think. Special arigato to Ricki-chan and her reverse beta reading!! Until next time...Love and peace! 


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